


When the Cat's Away

by charis2770



Series: Finding Vengeance...or is it Something Else? [31]
Category: Finder no Hyouteki | Finder Series
Genre: Asami is out of town, BDSM, Bondage, Feilong and Akihito play together, M/M, Object Insertion, Slash, Spanking, Yaoi, body art, erotic revenge, henna tattoos, this could be interesting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-03
Updated: 2016-09-11
Packaged: 2018-08-12 18:26:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7944730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charis2770/pseuds/charis2770
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Asami has to go out of town on business. Feilong comes to stay with Akihito and Yoh isn't there because reasons, so the two of them have several days to spend alone together. This has never happened before. It should be.... interesting....</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I am writing this story because I have had a surprising number of requests for stories about how Feilong and Aki play when they're alone together, and also a lot of requests to find out a few other things about the two of them, so I am making time for those requests, and hope to fulfill a very great number of them in this story. I don't know how long it's going to get, but so far I'm only into the first day. Yes, there's going to be more!

“How long are you gonna be gone?” He asks the question casually. He’s sure of this, because he’d practiced asking it last night after Asami had sent him a message to let him know he’d have to go out of town on business the following day. Asami is entirely too perceptive for comfort.

 

“Are you going to miss me, Aki-kun?” asks Asami with a smirk as he finishes tying his tie. Aki rolls his eyes and throws a pair of rolled-up socks he plucks out of Asami’s open suitcase that’s laying beside him on the bed.

 

“As if. I just want to know how much peace and quiet I’m going to have to look forward to before you come back and start pestering me all the time again.”

 

Asami chuckles as he replaces the socks, then turns on Akihito in a flash and pins him to the mattress, one knee pressing gently against his crotch. Aki yelps in surprise and tries uselessly to push the larger man off. Asami leans down and kisses him. Aki considers biting him, almost certain it would delay Asami’s departure by at least a few satisfying minutes, but decides the man will probably see right through that tactic too, and settles for kissing him back as enthusiastically as possible.

 

“I’m afraid you don’t have a lot of peace and quiet to look forward to. Feilong will be here later today to keep you company. I should be home in three days.”

 

Akihito brightens at this announcement. For more than a week Feilong, Yoh and Tao have been travelling to visit several boarding schools, both in Japan and abroad. Until everyone is really certain there’s no more threat of some ex-Baishe member trying to kidnap the heir and use him for their own purposes, it’s been decided by everyone, even Tao himself that it’s wisest to have him well out of harm’s way.

 

“Did they find a good place?” He asks, sitting up again when Asami lets him go.

 

“A couple of likely prospects. Yoh is remaining with Tao while the boy spends a few days at their top choice. Feilong will either rejoin them if the search is to continue, or they’ll return here at the end of the week.”

 

“Why isn’t Feilong staying with Tao?” Akihito is surprised, but not displeased at this news.

 

“He does have several other business ventures of his own to handle. He can afford to have Yoh languishing in a hotel room near the school much more readily than he can afford to do it himself.”

 

“Oh. Okay, that makes sense I guess. Asami?”

 

“Hm?” asks his lover a little absently as he zips his suitcase and sets it on the floor, extending the handle.

 

“I guess I am gonna miss you. A little.”

 

Asami’s smile manages to  _ mostly _ not be smug.

 

“I guess the sentiment is mutual, a little. Try not to get into too much trouble while I’m gone. Now go back to sleep. It’s very early yet, and I know you don’t have any assignments today. I seem to recall that you didn’t get much sleep last night.”

 

“Oh yeah? And whose fault was  _ that _ ?” mutters Aki, doing his best to sound annoyed but not doing a very good job of it because he really is still awfully sleepy and the bed is warm and so is his chest, a little, from Asami saying he’d miss him. He lets himself be tucked back into Asami’s ridiculously oversized bed, only slapping at his hands once or twice for form’s sake.

 

“Well, you’ve a few days to catch up on your sleep, assuming Feilong will let you. Do be warned though, that when I return you’d best plan on no sleep at all. Perhaps unconsciousness, by the time I’m finished with you.”

 

“How come you always act like I might have forgotten….things….every time you go out of town for more than a night?” Aki asks sleepily, because it’s true that Asami almost seems like he’s compelled to remind him forcefully to whom he belongs when they’ve been apart.

 

“Because I’m a possessive bastard,” Asami smiles, brushing a kiss across the top of Akihito’s bright head before slipping from the room. It’s not the reason. Akihito knows it’s not really for Asami’s sake at all that he always ravages his young lover when he returns from a business trip. He remembers earlier years, when he’d listened too often to people who had wondered aloud what Asami was doing with a common little tramp like himself, how those words would seem to echo in the void of Asami’s presence. How he’d wonder whether Asami was seeing or would meet someone else when he was out of town, or think better of what he was doing with a mongrel like Aki once he had some space. How he’d do his best to hide his anxiety from Asami if they spoke on the phone and upon his return. Asami had started those marathon, savage reunions because of it, telling Akihito every time that it was because he had to remind the boy who he belonged to, to make sure he’d think twice before trying to run away while Asami was gone. After all they’ve been through, especially recently, is he really so insecure still that he has to keep letting Asami keep up the pretense, to save his feelings?

 

“It’s because you love me,” he whispers at the closing door. Asami is already several steps down the hall, so he can’t have heard Aki, but that’s all right. Maybe Aki will be brave enough to tell him he knows the real reason when he comes home this time. Except just after he faintly hears the front door close, his phone vibrates on the bedside table. He fumbles for it, really hoping it’s not work because he wants nothing more than to go back to sleep and wait for Feilong. It isn’t work.

 

“ **_That too_ ** ”

 

He falls back to sleep with the phone still held loosely against his chest. He has no idea how long he sleeps, but the dream he’s having when he starts to drift back awake is decidedly pornographic in nature. Strong hands on his body, pushing and arranging him to their liking. Soft touches, fingertips plucking at his nipples, sliding down his belly to his groin. He moans softly and his eyelids slide open. The sensations from the dream don’t fade, but rather arrange themselves into sharper focus, and he realizes he’s not alone. He lets out a startled squawk and makes an abortive attempt to leap out of bed, but finds himself pinned to the mattress with depressing ease.

 

“It’s a good thing I’m not a monster,” purrs Liu Feilong, leaning down to lick the tip of Akihito’s nose, “or I’d have already eaten you all up.”

 

“You are a monster,” complains Aki. “I was sleeping, and you scared me!”

 

“You don’t feel scared to me,” muses Feilong, resuming his ministrations to Akihito’s erection, which hasn’t flagged at all despite his startlement. He opens his mouth to protest, but all that comes out is a soft whine when a sharp fingernail slowly presses into the head of his cock, stopping just short of more pain than Aki likes.

 

“Nn. I missed you, FeiFei,” he gasps instead.

 

“And I you, Ototo. Just think. We’ve got three whole days all to ourselves, and I’ve already got permission from Asami to do whatever I want with you.”

 

While Akihito privately doubts Asami would have given  _ quite _ such sweeping carte blanche, the statement is still as alarming as it is exciting. He and Feilong have certainly spent time alone together before, but never so long. And Fei’s smile is just a little too calculating for comfort. Still, by the time his long, graceful fingers are gently opening Aki up, the expression has been shoved far to the back of his mind, and by the time Feilong’s cock is sliding slowly inside his eager body, it is completely forgotten.  Feilong is more often than not quite tender with Aki when it comes to the actual sex part while they’re alone in bed. Sometimes Akihito wonders if he’s  _ still _ trying to make up for his past cruelty, but he doesn’t mind, and never brings it up. Most of the time he likes being fucked hard and rough, but the contrast of this is nice sometimes.

 

Quite some time later, for Feilong’s stamina is almost as good as Asami’s when he wants it to be, they lay sated in a comfortable jumble of limbs, Akihito running his fingers through Feilong’s hair while the older man draws invisible symbols on Aki’s skin with his.

 

“So….what are we gonna do for three days?” Akihito asks curiously. The calculating smile is suddenly back. “What’s  _ that _ look for?”

 

“What look?” wonders Feilong innocently. “Really, Aki, you shouldn’t be so suspicious. Can’t I just be smiling because I’m happy to be here, and to have this opportunity for some one on one time with you? I’m quite sure we’ve never had this much time with just the two of us in all the time we’ve been together.”

 

“I’m pretty sure you can be smiling for all kinds of reasons at the same time,” says Aki warily, but shrugs off his unease. After all, Feilong acts like he’s up to something all the time, whether he is or not.

 

“As for what I want to do, how about we go out to lunch first? We can do a bit of marketing after that, because to be honest, I’d like nothing more than to  _ not _ set foot outside this building for the next three days after that, but at the same time I fully intend to indulge you….and myself. You won’t let Asami spend buckets of money on you, but you’re not going to stop me from stocking this kitchen with obscenely expensive food and drink because it’s what  _ I _ want, and when I don’t get what I want I can be extremely unpleasant!”

 

Akihito laughs and rolls out of the bed to get dressed. This is nothing less than the truth, especially without Asami here to put him back in his place. Besides, when it comes to food, nobody has ever had to twist Aki’s arm very hard to get him to let them spend as much money as they want to. He’s never been shopping with Feilong before. It surprises him a little that the other man wants to. It somehow seems as though marketing ought to be something he’d consider beneath him, but after lunch is finished and they’ve tossed around a few ideas for keeping themselves occupied, Akihito realizes he hadn’t really understood what Feilong had meant by the term. Feilong  _ does _ turn his nose up at the supermarket. They only set foot in upscale, specialty markets, making individual stops for the freshest produce, the highest-quality meats and seafood, the most exclusive luxury foods, the trendiest liquor stores, and the most decadent confectioners in all of Tokyo. Akihito doesn’t even mourn the lack of Pocky in any of their bags as they walk out of La Maison du Chocolat with boxes full of fine chocolates, pastries, and several dozen macarons in assorted flavors.

 

“I think we should have chocolate for dinner,” he says, as earnestly as he can manage.

 

“Mm,” muses Feilong. “We could. However, if I were you, I’d choose something with at least a little protein to go along with your chocolate.”

 

“Yeah? What for?”

 

“Well, you’re going to need your energy. If you pass out in the middle, I’m going to be offended.”

 

“Oh….in the middle of what?”

 

“That’s not important right now. Can you think of anything else you want? I’m not entirely sure we can fit any more parcels into even Asami’s limousine. Though I can order up another car if I need to…” Feilong taps a finger against his chin and thinks.

 

“Feilong! In the middle of  _ what _ ?”

 

“Never you mind. Last chance, kitten. Another stop, or are you ready to go home?”

 

“Fei...there’s more food than twelve people could eat in a week. I’m ready to go. Are you gonna answer me or not?”

 

“You should know better than to ask that question. Of course not. It’s a surprise.”

 

Aki trails behind the ex-gangster as he sweeps into the limo after Suoh takes their packages and manages to find a place for them in the front seat.

 

“Is it a nice surprise or a scary surprise?” he asks, a little nervously. Feilong smiles and leans over to give him a quick kiss.

 

“It’s a very nice surprise.”

 

“Yeah,” mutters Aki under his breath, “but for me….or for you?”

 

Dinner is shrimp and seared scallops with steamed vegetables, because Akihito had been kidding about having the chocolate for dinner. Mostly. They do share a piece of the tarte chocolat  _ after _ dinner though. It’s too decadently rich for even Aki to eat a whole piece by himself. He’s even bought a few pieces of chocolate for Asami to try; some of the ones made from dark chocolate from Quito, with espresso and red pepper in them. He finds those kinds too bitter, but Asami actually likes them on rare occasions.

 

Feilong slips away while Akihito cleans up their supper dishes. This isn’t surprising, as Feilong never helps with cleaning kitchens...or anything else for that matter...unless someone makes him. It doesn’t bother Aki. The condo doesn’t belong to Fei, and he doesn’t do it to be thoughtless, it would just never occur to him to do  _ chores. _ There are people for these things. It amuses him that Aki does them, when all of them know perfectly well it’s not necessary. Aki doesn’t know whether Feilong is aware that Asami has shared with him that one night Yoh made Feilong clean the downstairs bathroom after he’d left a tremendous mess in it of discarded clothing and towels strewn about the floor and his grooming products everywhere. He can only matter what sort of… encouragement….it had required to get him to do it. He thinks he’d have given a  _ lot _ to have been a fly on the wall that night!

 

Feilong isn’t in the living room when he’s finished in the kitchen. He checks the bedroom next, but it’s empty as well. So are the bathrooms, home office and spare rooms. The door to the secret room is closed, and he’s pretty sure he’d have felt or heard the door opening...but then again, maybe not when he’d been running the disposal in the sink. He nibbles at his thumbnail and feels a tiny, shuddery feeling start to come to life in his stomach. 

 

“Feilong?” he calls out, a little hesitant. There is no answer. Taking a deep breath, he steps on the button recessed into the floor. As the door slides open, he lets out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding when he sees that the room is also devoid of Feilong, or anyone else. There is, however, a white notecard very obviously propped up in the middle of the spanking horse. He picks it up and unfolds it. In Feilong’s tidy printing, he sees a single word.

 

“Downstairs.”

 

He doesn’t know why this surprises him so much, but it does. He’s never been inside the condo Yoh and Feilong share under any but platonic circumstances. That condo is  _ their _ space. Asami’s condo is the space he and Aki and Feilong share for….things which are not platonic, in which Yoh is sometimes also involved. He knows Asami has been there with Yoh and Feilong a couple of times, because he’d heard all about it afterwards and been privately relieved that he hadn’t been involved. The extent of Feilong’s capacity for pain boggles his mind a little bit. 

 

Since the room has already been opened, he tiptoes down the hidden stair that makes up the secret escape route built into the building by previous tenants. He doesn’t know why he’s trying to walk quietly, except that he’s feeling pretty apprehensive about whatever “surprise” Feilong has planned for him. He slips quietly into the back hall of the condo. Most of the lights are off, save that of the master bedroom. The door is slightly ajar, and a soft golden glow spills into the hallway. The scent of Feilong’s favorite incense greets him, blended notes of sandalwood, cedar, frankincense and patchouli. The smell of it chases his nerves away and he laughs silently at himself for getting so worked up. He runs to the door and flings it open wide, stepping into the room, a little breathless.

 

“Ohh,” he whispers, eyes going wide. Feilong straightens from lighting the last of many candles and turns to greet him, eyes dark and mysterious in the shadows cast by the many small flames. The room has been transformed from the classic modern luxury with which it was designed. It resembles nothing so much as it does the inside of some exotic sultan’s tent. A harem room, perhaps. Silks and tapestries and textiles of every color and design drape from a central point in the ceiling, so that no hint of tasteful eggshell or soft grey paint can be seen. The furniture is all covered as well, and the bed dressed in exquisite brocaded linens much like those at Feilong’s safehouse. Several beautiful Turkish and Persian rugs cover the dove grey plush carpet almost completely, the added thickness resulting in a floor that is decadently soft to walk upon. “F..Feilong...when did you have time to do this?”

 

“I did most of it before I woke you up today,” says Feilong softly, setting the lighter down and stepping beside the bed. “Join me?” He holds out a hand, and Akihito doesn’t hesitate to cross to him and take that outstretched hand. He sees the real pleasure in Fei’s smile at his lack of hesitation. “I want to play with you, Akihito,” he continues, turning the younger man so that Aki’s back is to Feilong’s front. He leans down and kisses the side of Aki’s neck softly, a mere brush of lips. Akihito shivers, and the small hairs on his neck and arms stand up. 

 

“Play with me?”

 

“Mm. Oh yes. Pleasure, my sweet Ototo. I have a few things I’d like to show you, things you may not have tried before, but I know you’ll love them. We’re artists, you and I, in ways Asami and Yoh will never be, so I think you’re uniquely qualified to appreciate some of what I have in mind. Pain too, beautiful boy, but you love that too. Pain, and then more pleasure. Will you let me?”

 

“Oh! I...yes. FeiFei...yes.” He’s nervous, of course. He’s well acquainted with how sadistic this man can be. But not afraid. And intrigued too, to find out what Feilong’s creative and agile mind has in store for him.

 

Slowly, sensually, Feilong undresses him, not allowing Akihito to help. His hands, when they brush skin, are supremely gentle. Aki finds himself relaxing, even as Feilong guides him to lie down on his stomach on the bed, arranging him to the older man’s liking so that Aki’s legs are spread wide (but not uncomfortably so) and his arms placed above his head, elbows bent slightly.

 

“I’d like to tie your wrists. May I? You can say no.”

 

“No, I...it’s fine,” says Aki, the scent and rich colors and soft golden light starting to make him feel as though he’s in a dream. He gasps softly when something feather-light brushes across the bottoms of his feet. It trails over his calves, slides between his thighs. He cranes his neck to peer over his shoulder and his breath catches again. Sometimes he’s struck by how truly damned  _ beautiful _ Feilong is. Crouched behind Akihito, Feilong’s body almost seems to glow with the candles. He’s clad only in a pair of yoga pants, their blackness a stark contrast to his alabaster skin. In his hands he holds silk scarves. The scarves, and the inky spill of his hair, are what he is using to caress Aki’s skin. He marvels a little to himself that without looking, he can’t tell which is which. With a soft hum of pleasure, he lays his head back down and relaxes., though he can’t conceal the fine trembling in his limbs. It’s the unknown dancing the in back of his mind that holds him a little on edge.

 

“Ototo,” breathes Feilong, continuing the silken caresses, either the scarves or his hair dipping between Aki’s legs so that he feels the whisper of it stroke his balls, and whines softly. “You’re so lovely. Aki...my word on it...I’ll tell you when I’m going to hurt you. All right?”

 

The tremble vanishes on a deep sigh, and Akihito nods, smiling. Feilong may not have the uncanny ability to almost seem to read his mind the way Asami does, but he’s still very perceptive. After every inch of the back of his body has been touched and stroked and petted by the silk, Feilong wraps the scarves several times around Aki’s wrists. Aki understand why he does so, because Asami has explained things to him about bondage, and circulation. Were the scarves wrapped only once, and were Aki to pull against them very hard, they could tighten too much and cut off the blood flow to his hands. But wrapped multiple times, this risk is minimized, if they are secured correctly, for the force of any tugging he may do is spread out. And Feilong knows how to secure them correctly. Aki does tug, experimentally. The scarves are snug, but do not tighten, the only pressure on his pulse being that which he creates himself when he pulls. 

 

He feels the bed sag as Feilong sits between his outstretched legs, the soft fabric of his pants touching Aki’s skin. Feilong’s fingers stroke his bottom, and Aki hears a soft, musical chime. He cocks his head curiously. The cheeks of his ass are pressed apart and he muffles a soft sound into the bedspread beneath his face. Feilong chuckles softly. Asami’s special lubricant is momentarily cool on his asshole, but warms quickly. He moans when a finger slides very slowly inside him. Feilong takes his time opening and softening Aki’s body, using rather more lubricant than usual. Akihito wonders a bit about that sound, and what it has to do with what Feilong is doing now, but is too distracted by the shift and tug and stroke of those fingers to think about it  _ much. _

 

Thus it is that when something very hard which seems also quite cold is pressed firmly against his hole, he cries out in shock. Feilong hushes him and pets him, though he laughs softly.

 

“Relax, pretty kitten. This isn’t going to hurt. These are  _ yin dao qui _ , Asami might say  _ rin no tama _ . Most people call them  _ ben wa. _ They’re going to feel strange at first, but it won’t hurt. Relax for me, there you go.”

 

Oh, it  _ does _ feel strange. There’s nothing like the insertion of a plug, which starts out small and tapers outward. This is something completely round, so that it forces him open quite suddenly. He lets out a sharp cry as Feilong pushes it steadily until his anus very suddenly swallows it whole, but then he realizes that Feilong is right. It doesn’t hurt. It just feels strange. The diameter isn’t too much for him at all. He’s also quickly aware that the object is strangely  _ heavy _ , even though it’s not very large. Moments after the first, Feilong presses another ball inside him, followed by yet one more. Now their presence makes him feel quite full. He can feel them pressing down against the front of his tummy. He clenches his cheeks and squirms.

 

Then he freezes in shock, sucking in a breath, his head rearing back. Feilong’s chuckle is positively filthy.

 

“You feel it, yes?”

 

“Oh  _ fuck, _ ” he gasps.

 

It’s a difficult sensation to describe. The heavy metal balls feel  _ alive _ inside him, almost. When he lies still, they are completely inert, just a rather odd, weighty presence. But when he moves, they shift inside him, and rub against one another, and somehow, he can’t begin to imagine how, they vibrate. Not heavily, not like a battery powered thing, unless it were a very tiny electric motor beginning to purr to life. He squirms again, to make them move some more, moaning softly.

 

“Do you like them, Akihito?”

 

“Oh Feilong. They’re  _ awesome, _ ” he breathes. Feilong laughs softly again, then Aki feels a gentle tug, which makes the balls shift even more, and he moans more loudly.

 

“I’m glad you like them. Yoh likes his very much too. Now I’m going to move to the next part. You’re going to just get to enjoy those for a while.” He pats the back of Aki’s leg as he slides off the bed. “I must leave the room briefly now, but don’t worry. I’ll be back in just a minute or two, I’ve got to gather something from the kitchen.”

 

“The kitchen? What?”

 

But Feilong is gone, and Akihito left to wonder, which he does for a moment, but then entertains himself by rocking his hips and making the ben wa balls shift and vibrate in his bottom. He’s growing more and more aroused. They don’t stimulate directly, but the sense of fullness, their weight, and the gentle vibration of them are building a slow, deep burn in his belly. He couldn’t come from this, but he can tell that they’re going to make him  _ want _ to really badly. Really soon.

 

Quite soon, Feilong does return, with a small bamboo tray in his hands. Aki smells something vaguely herbal, and lifts his head again to watch curiously as Feilong sets the tray down on a little table he’s pulled over beside the bed, about halfway down its length. On the tray is a stone bowl that steams gently, from which protrude what Aki is pretty sure are several little plastic bottles with capped, pointed tips. There is a folded white towel, bottles of what may be alcohol or oil of some kind, and some cotton swabs. He has no idea what any of it means.

 

“Akihito...my Ototo. You’re so lovely. I want to make you even more lovely. This is henna. You’ve heard of it?”

 

“Yeah.” Aki nods, and perks with interest. He’s seen henna tattoos plenty of times, and always thought they looked really cool. “Are you going to use it on me?”

 

“If you let me, yes. I’d like to use your body as my canvas. Decorate you, embellish you, turn you into a work of art. I won’t paint you like a girl. Nothing flowery or too feminine. I’d like…” Feilong pauses and looks down, his lashes brushing his cheeks. He seems almost shy. “I want to paint my poetry on your skin.”

 

“Oh...Fei….yes. Of course yes.”

 

“Thank you. There’s a bit of a catch to it though, to make it more interesting. You’d get bored otherwise, you see. You’re also familiar with wax play.”

 

“Y...ye-es….” Aki is, as Asami has demonstrated it to him in the past. He’d found it interesting. Not as much of a turn-on as being spanked, but not bad either.

 

“I’ve heated the henna, so that it will be a little more like having hot wax painted on your body. To make it more interesting for both of us. It won’t actually burn you, I promise, but it’s going to feel quite warm.”

 

“Okay. I’m not afraid. I trust you, Ani.”

 

“Thank you,” whispers Feilong.

 

He starts laying down the characters, his own words, on the back of Aki’s shoulders, where his skin is not particularly sensitive. The henna paste is hot, like the wax Asami has let drip from a burning candle onto his skin before, but not scalding. Aki gasps a little when it touches him, and flinches. Each time he flinches, the ben wa balls shift inside him. Ohh, Feilong is clever. He presses his hips down into the covering of the bed. He’s been hard for what feels like ages now.

 

His arousal is constant, but at the same time it isn’t urgent, because what Feilong is doing to him feels like magic. He closes his eyes. He imagines it is as if the other man is carving his words, his art, into Aki’s flesh. Carving it, or burning it. He can’t decipher any of the words, but he’s read some of Feilong’s poems, and knows that the words are beautiful. When the heated henna is laid down on more sensitive skin, he whimpers a little, but the sensation never quite crosses over into pain, only dances very close to the edge of it. Far from growing bored, even though it takes what he dimly perceives is quite a long time for Feilong to finish, Aki is enraptured by the process. Bound, filled, marked. He begins to imagine that he’s been captured by some wealthy sheik and whisked away to his desert kingdom, held captive and claimed and branded by the mysterious stranger. Every inch of his skin where Feilong leaves his words feels sensitized by the heat. 

 

Words cover his back, his shoulders, his upper arms, and the backs of his thighs. He wonders vaguely why Feilong doesn’t put any of it on his bottom. At long last Feilong sits up with a sigh, and sets the last little plastic bottle he’s been using to dispense the paste onto Aki’s skin down on the tray with finality.

 

“Finished,” he breathes. “Oh Aki...you look exquisite. It will have to stay for a while before we wash it off, to let the images transfer to your skin. The words will stay for a while. A few weeks, unless you try hard to scrub them off.”

 

“I won’t! No way,” replies Akihito firmly. “Do...do you think Asami will like them?”

 

“He said he’d look forward to seeing them when he got home.”

 

“You told him?”

 

“Of course. I’m not going to do anything to you this weekend that Asami hasn’t already approved, Akihito,” says Feilong. For some reason, this touches Aki, and his throat tightens. He knows Feilong is telling him this so that he won’t be nervous, because Aki’s trust of Asami is more absolute and unquestioning than his trust of Feilong. He nods, wordlessly. Feilong leans down and kisses him. The angle is a little awkward, but Aki cranes his neck and kisses him back earnestly, whimpering softly into the kiss. Feilong’s lips curve against his own.

 

“Now,” he says, his voice taking on the wickedness Akihito knows all too well, “we’re going to have a different kind of fun.”

 

He leans down and picks up a fat, round bolster off the floor, ordering Aki to raise his hips. With Feilong’s help, Akihito lifts them high enough for the bolster to be shoved underneath him. The movement makes the balls inside him shift much more dynamically and he bites his lip against the sounds that want to come out. The heat inside him has coiled tighter, because he knows Feilong’s tone very well. They’re about to get to the pain part of the evening. And he’s pretty sure he understands now why Feilong hadn’t painted any poetry onto his ass. He gulps, but his cock pulses when he lowers his weight back down onto the bolster.

 

“I wanted to give you tonight for a reason,” says Feilong conversationally as he leans down and pulls something out from under one of the tapestries that covers the table by the bed. It’s a black duffle bag Akihito recognizes as one of many toy bags. He swallows hard.

 

“Okay…”

 

“What you did for Yoh….it was wonderful. I’m very grateful to you.”

 

“What I did for….Yoh? When?” Confusion mars Aki’s brow with a small frown. What the hell is Feilong talking about?

 

“There are so many experiences he never got to have. When I stop to think about it, it nearly breaks my heart sometimes. I realize my own upbringing was...considerably less than conventional, but Yoh...he never really got to be a boy. When you convinced him to run away with you, you gave him so much more than a couple of days’ worth of a fun game. You filled in a huge gap in him, let him experience something that really, truly changed him. You probably don’t see it, but he and I have spoken about it. He had so much fun. Your kindness towards him...it touched him more than you know. Yoh didn’t even know  _ how _ to have fun before we came to Japan together. You didn’t just let him play at being a bad boy. He’d never been on a nature hike, or an impromptu road trip, or had a cookout, or sat by a campfire, or told ghost stories the way he said the two of you did the first night, on your own.”

 

“Feilong, I…” Akihito squirms some more, a little embarrassed, but secretly very pleased. He’s also confused. He could have sworn this was supposed to be leading up to a spanking of some sort. “I’m glad he liked it. I…”

 

“I’m not finished,” says Feilong, his voice growing a bit sharper. “The first part of tonight was to show you how grateful I am to you, for giving Yoh that experience. But now…” He leans down and draws something out of the duffle bag. “ _ Now _ we’re going to talk about that lizard…”


	2. ...His Kitten has to Pay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akihito is....punished?

Akihito tugs at the scarves binding his wrists and whimpers at the sight of the implement in Feilong’s hand. He’s heard the toy called a couple of different things. Whether a spank stick or a pain stick, it’s shaped something like a long ruler, approximately 20 inches long, an inch and a half wide, and about a quarter of an inch thick. They can be made of any kind of wood, plastic, lexan or whatever someone’s twisted mind can come up with. Heavier woods and lexan can deal out a shocking amount of pain, but the one Feilong is currently stroking affectionately is covered in leather. His cock twitches again and he bites his lip, peeking up at Feilong’s face to try to read his expression. Feilong’s mouth quirks up at one corner and his black eyes sparkle.

 

“C...c’mon, Feilong...the lizard wasn’t my fault,” he protests, although he’s not sure how convincing he sounds. The spell Feilong has woven still holds him deep within it, and he doesn’t want to stop it. But making sure Feilong isn’t  _ actually _ mad at him seems like a vitally important detail, considering the vulnerability of his position. “I didn’t put it there!”

 

Feilong laughs, which isn’t as comforting as it might be coming from someone else.

 

“Of course you didn’t put it there, don’t be absurd. There would be no way in a thousand years that you would have been able to get up off of an air mattress, unzip the flaps of a tent, sneak out and plant it in my boot...having devised some way to keep it there until I put them on in the morning...or having become some sort of lizard whisperer one might suppose...then gone back through those steps in reverse without  _ all _ of us hearing you.”

 

“Hey!” Aki struggles to lift himself a little more upright in his affront, which only serves to make the ben wa balls shift even harder inside him so that his eyes try to roll back in his skull which steals a significant portion of his credibility. “A  _ thousand _ years? I can be pretty damn quiet, you know!”

 

“Of course you can, a skill for which Yoh and I have reason to be monumentally grateful. Air mattresses and tent zippers, on the other hand, can not. Those things are all beside the point though, kitten, because it doesn’t change the fact that the lizard is still entirely your fault. It’s because of you….and  _ only _ because of you...that any of us came to be sleeping there overnight, giving it the opportunity to violate my personal space.”

 

This is awfully hard to argue with. If their runaway plans had been left up to Yoh, they wouldn’t have gone to the park. Yoh had never been camping before. The plans had been Akihito’s, and his alone. During the exchange, Feilong has begun to run the flat of the spank stick softly up and down the back of Aki’s legs. He shivers a little. He ducks his head and then peers meekly back up at Feilong.

 

“You’re right. I’m sorry you had to deal with the lizard, FeiFei. I didn’t think about how much you’d hate it when I chose that place...I...I’m sorry.”

 

“Tch.” The stick stops stroking and taps the back of his left leg softly. “Stop making it difficult for me to pretend to be annoyed with you, or I really shall become annoyed with you.”

 

Aki manages to duck his head back down quickly enough to hide his grin at this, he hopes.

 

“You punished Yoh for running away, and Asami punished me for running away, but it was all  _ my _ fault that you had to get dirty and sleep almost on the ground and were nearly attacked by w...ah...wildlife,” he says as meekly as he can possibly manage with a really insistent erection and laughter creaking very hard at his ribcage. 

 

“You’re quite correct,” says Feilong primly, his own lips twitching a little with suppressed laughter. He leans down so that their faces are very close together.

 

“Please don’t spank me, Ani,” whispers Akihito. Feilong’s smile is both brilliant and evil.

 

“Ohh, I’m going to spank you, you delicious little brat.”

 

“But it  _ hurts _ when you spank me.”

 

“I know darling.”

 

“Do you have to do it very hard?”

 

“ _ Very _ hard.” 

 

Their lips are almost touching now, and they look into each other’s eyes as though they can’t do anything else.

 

“Will I cry?” gasps Akihito, grinding his hips into the bolster.

 

“Oh yes,” promises Feilong.

 

“Will you make me feel better after?”

 

“I promise…”

 

“Hnn. F-FeiFei?”

 

“Yes kitten?”

 

“Oh...oh  _ now _ ?”

 

“Gods, I adore you.” 

 

The kiss is savage, and leaves Aki with his bottom lip swelling a bit from Feilong’s teeth and feeling a little dizzy as he tries to catch his breath. Then Feilong is behind him again and the leather taps his backside several times. He lays his head down and closes his eyes, now scarcely daring to breathe.

 

The first blow wrings a cry from him. The sting of it is sharp, and heat blooms immediately. It’s not like the momentary delay of something more vicious and severe. It’s like a thin paddle really, but the leather mutes its bite a great deal. Still, because it is slender and thus cuts through the air more easily, it is extremely effective. He doesn’t try to hold back. He doesn’t want to. Feilong has already brought him to such heights of arousal that he wants this. What he hadn’t anticipated was what effect a spanking would have on the objects shifting and softly vibrating inside him. The cry transforms into a moan of helpless desire. Feilong hums in the back of his throat and spanks him again.

 

“Oh...oh fuck...harder,” he pants.

 

“You’re supposed to be acting properly chastised,” scolds Feilong, not sounding very disappointed at all.

 

“Ah! You b...better...ohh...punish me a  _ lot _ ,” he manages to gasp between firm, stinging swats.

 

“I intend to. You’re so pretty like this.”

 

It isn’t long before Akihito isn’t capable of speech anymore. The heat builds and builds, the kind of intense sting he likes, and the silver balls don’t stop shifting against themselves inside him. The sense of fullness, of being invaded, and the faint, fluttering caress of them never allows the pain to override the desire they keep planted firmly in the front of his brain. It does hurt, and the tears rise up to spill down his cheeks soon enough, but the hurt never drowns the need. He feels feverish all over, his bottom even hotter. 

 

Sobbing, he tugs futilely against the silk binding his wrists, not because he wants to get away, but because he feels like he’s going to explode, and has to do something. As if from very far away, he can hear Feilong grunt softly as he brings the stick down harder still.

 

“Ohh please,” he cries, “Fei...Fei please...I nuh...need...I need…”

 

“I know,” growls Feilong. Abruptly, he snatches the bolster out from under Aki’s hips and tosses it away, only his quick reflexes preventing Akihito from toppling over on his face at its sudden absence. “Stay on your knees, just like that,” he snarls. Aki can just manage to nod, and gathers his knees under him, leaning on his elbows. He wails when Feilong’s hand wraps around his weeping, aching cock and begins to stroke slowly. The wail becomes practically a shriek as Feilong then resumes spanking him, with his hand. Right in the center of his ass, so that the force of every smack has the strongest possible effect on the ben wa balls.

 

Tears now completely forgotten, except for a few that continue to roll slowly down his face from the sheer enormity of how good Feilong is making him feel right now, even if his ass is probably going to be pretty sore tomorrow.

 

“Ah...hah...please, I’m...I’m gonna….” He’s unable to finish the sentence as pleasure rips through his body and his babbled plea breaks off into a helpless cry. The cry ramps up into a scream when Feilong, who recognizing perfectly well what’s happening to Akihito, stops spanking him and steadily pulls the ben wa balls out of him at the moment of orgasm, by the sturdy cord connecting them. Aki’s vision tunnels and goes white as he’s suddenly coming harder than he’s ever come in his life, and it seems to go on and on, as each ball is pulled from his body. With a guttural moan, he gives in to the faceplant he’d narrowly avoided earlier. Feilong’s soft laugh is absolutely filthy.

 

“It’s the yin dao qui,” he says, turning to put them somewhere out of sight. “They work in much the same way as anal beads if removed at the peak of pleasure. But beads don’t have the same effect these do while inserted, not even if they’re the vibrating kind. They were originally designed for women, and not connected to each other. Mine are specially designed, or there might be certain… difficulties….in removing them. Ah, Ah! I didn’t say you could move,” he chides as Aki starts to try to do just that, despite the fact that his wrists are still bound.

 

“Wha..”

 

“I’m not finished yet.”

 

“You’re n...oh. Oh...um...F-FeiFei? Ani? I mean, it’s not that I don’t...but I just came really really hard and I’m…I don’t think I can again, so soon. I’m not ready!”

 

Feilong is slowly taking off his pants and regarding Aki like he’s something nice to eat.

 

“Naughty little boys who run away and hide in the woods and cause emotional distress to their lovers almost always have nasty things happen to him. And don’t worry. I am.” Ignoring Akihito’s increasingly agitated protests, he quickly slicks his erection and pounces, wrestling his smaller lover back over the bolster so easily it’s a little disheartening.

 

“Please Feilong, please wait! It’s too quick, I can’t. No, no! Please  _ wait _ !”

 

“ _ Wait, _ ” hisses Fei in his ear as he sinks his cock into Akihito’s hole, balls deep with one thrust, “is not a safeword.”

 

Aki howls and tears spring back up in his eyes when Feilong’s erection puts pressure on his highly sensitized prostate. It’s been barely more than a minute since his orgasm, certainly not yet two. It’s excruciating. Feilong ignores him serenely and uses his otherworldly agility and the advantage of the position Akihito is in to make certain to hit that extremely tender spot with every deep, driving thrust. He’s certainly not being gentle now. Aki whimpers and writhes and begs for mercy. Feilong responds by working one hand under his helpless victim’s hips. He finds Akihito’s softening prick and plays with it, pinching the head where it the most oversensitized after release and rubbing a fingertip in circles over and over again easily, as it is quite wet with Aki’s seed.

 

Akihito starts to cry in earnest as the relentless stimulation continues, and Feilong doesn’t stop fucking him, grinding his cock over the hapless younger man’s sweet spot over and over.

 

“Ohh,” sobs Aki, “Please no more! I’ll be good, I promise! I’ll never, ever do it again! Ah! No no no no! I can’t, FeiFei! It hurts! Please, I’m so sore!”

 

“That’s too bad,” says Feilong. His voice is kind and sympathetic, completely in contrast to the way he mercilessly uses Aki’s body. “I know it hurts you, sweet kitten. Poor baby, you’re just so  _ sore _ aren’t you?”

 

“Yuh...yu...yes,” whimpers Akihito. Feilong knows perfectly well what it does to Aki when he talks like that. He can’t stop crying a little, but after what seems like an agonizing amount of time, he feels his aching cock stir. Feilong’s chuckle is triumphant.

 

“There we are. That’s not so bad, is it? You were so good for me, darling. Come on then, you can do it. I’m not going to come until you do, not if it takes hours. Be a good boy for me.”

 

“I can’t,” moans Akihito, which is an obvious lie, as the evidence that he can is rapidly expanding in Feilong’s hand. Once he’s fully erect, Feilong releases his cock and concentrates on fucking Aki into the mattress  _ through _ the bolster over which he’s draped.

 

“Better take over for me and help yourself along, naughty boy, or I’ll make you do this again in a little while. Whimpering a little, Aki thrusts his hand between his body and the bolster, hissing as his fingers close around aching flesh. Despite that, or because of it, it doesn’t take long before he’s crying out frantically through his tears, fist flying as his body strains towards release.

 

“Ha! Ah...Feilong….n-now…”

 

Feilong slams his cock home one last time and shudders, while Aki screams as the spasms of his own pleasure takes him for the second time in not very many minutes and it aches like a bruise even as it feels amazing. 

 

This time, he’s not at all inclined to try to move when he collapses face down again, trembling all over, crying a little, and completely drained. He makes a small, protesting noise when Feilong takes his hand, but it’s only to untie first one scarf and then the other. He gently chafes each wrist to make sure Aki’s blood is flowing normally, then lays down beside him and draws the exhausted boy into his arms.

 

‘You’re a very mean man,” he pouts. Feilong grins.

 

“Don’t you forget it, either. When you’re feeling ready, we’ll go take a bath. We need to wash off those designs, and it will make you feel good.”

 

“Just...not too good please?” begs Aki plaintively.

 

“Don’t worry. I won’t force you to come again for at least an hour or so.”

 

“Feilong,  _ no _ ! I really can’t, I’m so sore, please, I mean it...I…”

 

“Hush, you’re priceless. I’m only teasing you. Not until tomorrow at least. I’m tired too. It’s been a long day, and we have plenty of time left.”

 

“N’kay.”

 

“Ready to go wash off my poems now?”

 

“Oh yeah! I can’t wait to see. Well,” Akihito pauses and peers over his shoulder and then at Feilong’s front. “Wash off what’s left of them anyway.” They’re both liberally speckled with bits of dried henna paste. “That’s not going to have messed it up, is it?” he asks anxiously.

 

“No, don’t worry. It was on long enough before things got energetic enough to make it flake off. Akihito….I spanked you for almost an  _ hour. _ ”

 

Aki’s lips form a silent “wow” of surprise.

 

“So, do you feel properly chastised?” asks Feilong as he helps Akihito out of the bed and leads him towards the bathroom.

 

“Ask me again tomorrow and I’ll let you know then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ben wa balls were originally designed to be used vaginally by women. They're not intended in their normal form for anal play. They don't have any kind of flange to prevent them from being inserted too deeply, and there is no way to grasp hold of them to pull them out, which could possibly require surgical removal, as they're quite heavy and would be extremely difficult to expel on one's own. Feilong's set are specially designed to that they're connected by a cord, like a set of anal beads, and can be pulled out. Sets like this do actually exist. The rest of the description of how they work is entirely accurate, though!


	3. ...And Naughty Boys Play

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During the second day of Asami's absence, Akihito and Feilong find themselves taking a backseat to younger Aki and Fei, their teenaged alter-egos of indeterminate age who have never come out to play together by themselves for more than a couple of hours until now. Ageplay without "Uncle Ryu" around can get very interesting!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING!  
> Many of you have read this whole series and are familiar with young Aki and Fei, and their extremely perverted Uncle Ryu. They've met with a lot of enthusiasm, and it makes me feel really good, but I do want to try my best not to upset or offend anyone, so I try to leave careful notes about all the scenarios in which any or all of them are involved. 
> 
> This is a ROLEPLAY between consenting adults. In their minds, Aki and Fei are somewhere in their teens. Neither feels a need to put an exact number on it. Fei is oldest, Aki younger by a couple of years. In their minds, they don't really determine whether their relation is by blood or choice. Uncle Ryu may be a family friend. Aki and Fei may be step siblings, or foster brothers, or adopted (this is NOT to suggest that real people who are related in that way aren't real family, it would simply make them be not blood relatives!!). They don't feel a need to define it, they do it because it feeds different needs for each of them, and Asami does it because he enjoys feeding those needs. He also enjoys being a pervert, but we already knew that about him.
> 
> I'm posting this so that if anyone is triggered by themes of incest or underaged stuff, they can skip this part and the next chapter. Neither I nor any of the boys condone actual incest or sex with minors or child abuse!!! People who abuse children deserve to be in prison. 
> 
> At the same time, no one should feel guilty if they have fantasies like these, so long as living them out doesn't damage anyone in any way and no actual minors are involved! Having these fantasies also doesn't mean you actually want to do any of these things in reality. That's what fantasies are for! As long as you do it in a safe and consensual way, with care and respect for your LEGAL AGED partner or partners, go for it!!

He sits in one of two comfortable chairs beside a small occasional table beside the big picture window, the curtains opened a little so that the early morning sun can stream in. Steam from his habitual cup of oolong tea drifts and curls in its light. He may be a hopeless cook, but Yoh has taught him how to make tea. How absurd, he thinks, to be nearly thirty years old before one learns how to brew simple tea. But someone in his position had never been expected to do such mundane things for themselves. There had always been staff to do it for him, and once there hadn’t been...well, since then there has been Yoh. Or Aki.

 

His head turns and he looks over at the small humps under the covers of Asami’s big bed that make up the form of the person in question. How small he looks by himself in the vast expanse of that massive bed. Feilong can’t see anything of Akihito except for the bright gold shock of tousled hair on the pillow. He smiles at the sight of it. Aki likes to complain about his hair, what a mess it always is unless he uses enough product on it to glue it down for a few hours. When he’d first seen the boy, he’d thought him unkempt. Although Feilong will always feel that there aren’t many excuses for a lack of personal hygiene, and find people with a messy personal appearance to be at least a bit distasteful, he’s come to love  _ this _ boy’s messy hair. It’s a reflection of his personality. Not sloppy, just energetic, untamed. Refusing to be tidy, ordered, sedate. He thinks now that Akihito would look strange to him with stylish hair. He’s perfect just the way he is. Besides, it wouldn’t be particularly enjoyable to drag him anywhere by it if he  _ did _ bother to paste it to his skull every day. The smile turns lascivious, but only fleetingly.

 

He’s not in the mood to drag his ototo around today. His personal sense of outrage had been sated last night. Today, he thinks he’d just like to have fun. He owes nearly all of that desire  _ and _ the ability to do it to Akihito. He glances back out the window and judges it to be a little past 7. He’s always been an early riser, like Asami, but Akihito takes every opportunity he has to sleep in. He may not have a regular job, but often enough he has to be out until dawn or up before it for his work, whether it be investigative or commercial. He may be silly, but Akihito’s dedication to his chosen profession is as sincere as anyone Feilong has ever met. With a sigh, he decides to let the boy sleep, and heads for Asami’s home gym to get some exercise while he waits.

 

Aki opens his eyes to bright sunlight and groans softly, rolling onto his stomach to bury his face in his pillow. Rude! Feilong must have opened the curtains when he got up. One hand gropes blindly at the other side of the bed, but he’s unsurprised to find it empty. Daring to risk a peek at the clock because he can turn his head  _ away _ from the window to do it, he sees that it’s a few minutes before 10. He stretches luxuriously, slowly, and winces when the muscles in his ass flex. He’d been right about being sore today. His lips curve into a secret smile against the pillowcase and he reaches back, as he has done hundreds of times before, and explores the skin of his backside with his fingertips, pressing gently and then harder when he finds a spot that is more tender than others. At last the needs of his bladder outweigh his distaste for the brightness of the sun so he rolls out of bed and staggers a little as he trots to the bathroom. Feilong had been pretty...thorough.

 

After he’s relieved himself, he pads to the mirror and turns his back to it, looking over his shoulder.

 

“Oh wow.”

 

The single bathroom mirror isn’t up to the task, so he goes to the closet instead, where there are mirrors that face each other, and he can get a much better look. There are several faint bruises on his bottom, one or two on his thighs, but that isn’t what catches his attention. The toy FeiFei had used hadn’t been very heavy, so the marks aren’t extreme. He can definitely feel them, and is able to admit, at least to himself, that he likes that. It’s marks of a different kind that take his breath away.

 

He hadn’t really taken a lot of time to appreciate Feilong’s work last night. He’d been blissed out on endorphins and sex, and very sleepy by the time their bath was over. He remembers exclaiming over how awesome he looked, but not much else.

 

Almost the entirety of his back is covered with the rich, amber brown henna that Feilong had put there last night. He can’t read any of it, as it’s all written in Fei’s elegant Mandarin script. He speaks Cantonese more often, but all of his poetry is written in classic Nanjing Mandarin as it would have been spoken in the Imperial court in the 19th century. What the words say doesn’t matter to Aki. He looks  _ amazing. _ He wishes he could photograph himself, but he’d want to do a lot more justice to this than using his camera’s timer setting and striking a few quick poses. He wonders if he can convince Feilong to do this to Yoh and let him take pictures of it. He’s sure Asami is going to love it. He spends several minutes just admiring the tattoos. He’s had it suggested to him that he get a real one. Maybe he should think about it. He actually looks kind of badass. Maybe like a jungle savage. He just needs a bunch more piercings and a necklace made out of teeth. 

 

“You’re pleased with the outcome, I take it?”

 

Aki yelps and whirls around to find Feilong leaning in the closet doorway, smirking at him while he checks himself out in the mirror. His cheeks turn pink, but the other man’s smirk is as affectionate as it is self-satisfied, so he decides not to yell. Besides, he can’t tell what kind of mood Feilong is in this morning from one sentence, and he doesn’t want another spanking. Yet.

 

“It looks so great. You’re really talented, FeiFei. You could become a famous body artist and I’ll take pictures of all your work.”

 

Feilong’s smirk turns into a smile of real pleasure. He even looks a tiny bit flustered for a second or two. Aki decides he better not let the man’s ego get too out of control.

 

“But you shouldn’t sneak up on people like that! It’s not very polite.”

 

“Akihito, I hate to tell you this, but what you call sneaking, I call walking into a room.”

 

Aki rolls his eyes and mutters something about ex-assassins who think they’re such hot shit while he pulls on a pair of shorts and a tank top. He doesn’t have to admit that he picks it because it lets a lot of the henna show.

 

Realizing that he’s starving, Akihito heads for the kitchen for breakfast. As a result of yesterday’s shopping, there is quite a lot to choose from! He justifies the chocolate pastry by pointing out that they’re going to start to get stale pretty soon if they’re not eaten.

 

“Don’t look at  _ me, _ ” says Feilong, holding his hands up. “You can have as much chocolate as you want as far as I’m concerned. At least for the next couple of days. Besides...I had one too, while I was waiting for the water to boil this morning.”

 

Aki narrows his eyes at Feilong a little suspiciously. He usually supports Asami in making Akihito limit his intake of sweets. He can’t see any sign of deceit in Feilong’s expression though.

 

“You’re not going to tell on me?” he demands, poking Feilong in the chest with the index finger of the hand holding the pastry. Feilong bats at his hand and rolls his eyes.

 

“You worry too much. It’s just the two of us here, and I think we should do just about anything we want. What Mr. Stuffed Shirt doesn’t know won’t hurt him. Or us.”

 

This takes Aki by surprise. After last night, he’d expected Feilong to take charge the whole time. But this...right now he sounds a lot more like Aki’s older  _ young _ brother, not very much like the usual Feilong at all, who generally takes great delight in being “in charge” of Akihito when Asami is away. When Fei opens another of the boxes from La Maison du Chocolat and selects a hazelnut macaron and then licks the crumbs off his fingers when he’s done rather than washing his hands, he’s sure of it.

 

They’ve roleplayed on their own before, of course, but it has always been in anticipation of “Uncle Ryu” coming home and either putting a very strict end to whatever they’re doing, or joining in. He’s a little surprised by Feilong’s response, but as he thinks about it, mouth full of flaky, buttery pastry and rich chocolate cream, he finds himself rapidly warming to the idea.

 

“What...um...what do you wanna do after breakfast?” His question is a little tentative, because he’s still not  _ sure _ Feilong is headed in the direction it really seems like he is. Feilong wrinkles his nose, and Aki is sure. Liu Feilong doesn’t wrinkle his nose when he’s thinking. Ever. Fei, Aki’s two-years-older brother, however, does it all the time. 

 

“Well….we could take Gomi down to the atrium. Or play video games. I know you like that, even if I always kick your ass at everything.

 

“You do not,” cries Aki hotly, and just like that, as effortlessly as one heartbeat to the next, Takaba Akihito and Liu Feilong have vanished, replaced by unspoken mutual consent by Aki and Fei Asami (they’ve never actually talked about whether their younger personas have last names at all, but that’s how Akihito thinks about them, even if he’d probably die of embarrassment if he had to admit it). “I can beat you at lots of things!”

 

“Ha! Prove it!” cries Fei, and they race to the living room, jostling each other good naturedly. Aki sets up the PS4 while Fei peruses game titles. “What do you want to play?”

 

“Borderlands 2!”

 

“That’s co-op, dumbass.”

 

“I’m not a dumbass. I know it’s co-op. And you can’t beat me at it!” retorts Aki, sticking out his tongue. Fei opens his mouth to continue arguing, then stops.

 

“I guess you’re right.” He shakes his head and laughs. He doesn’t feel like fighting with Aki right now. Not  _ yet _ anyway. He can hardly believe Uncle Ryu left them alone and him in charge for  _ three whole days _ and he doesn’t want to do anything to make him regret it. Besides, he can’t argue his brother’s point, or his cleverness. He watches the younger boy pulling out controllers and checking their charge level, then pulling cushions off the huge sectional sofa and tossing them in front of the massive LCD television. He sure is cute. His shorts are so baggy they look like they’re about to fall off. His tank top, on the other hand, is quite snug, and shows off his flat belly and the muscles in his chest and arms very nicely. Aki might look skinny at first glance, but he’s not really. He’s wiry, but he has some very nicely developed muscles. And a really cute butt. He mentally adds this last part when Aki plunks himself down on the cushions on the floor before realizing he'd forgotten to get the game out. He crawls over to the media cabinet and leans forwards to snag it, his little round butt in the air. Fei shakes his head again to clear it of such thoughts so early in the day and flops down beside his baby brother, taking the proffered controller and turning his attention to post apocalyptic mayhem.

 

The play Borderlands for about an hour, until Fei starts to get bored. After shutting down the game console, they decide to go swimming. There’s an indoor pool in the basement of Uncle Ryu’s condo, and during the day on weekdays it is almost always completely abandoned. This proves to be the case today, so they spend another hour swimming and splashing, wrestling in the water and trying to dunk each other. This, of course, means that their bodies come into contact virtually all the time. Fei has to stifle a soft moan when Aki plasters himself to the front of his body, arms and legs wrapped around him to try to throw him off balance. Their skins are warm compared to the cool water, and slide like silk against each other. His prick, which has been about half hard since about five minutes after they got in the water, comes to full attention. To his relief, he can feel that Aki’s has two.

 

Aki goes very still and they stare into each other’s eyes. His little brother’s expression is almost as arousing as his toned body pressed tight against Fei’s; eyes wide and a little shocked, pupils slowly dilating, his lips parted. Fei dips his head down to catch Aki’s soft gasp with his mouth, kissing him gently. Aki makes a tiny, surprised sound, but kisses him back a second later. Now Fei does moan softly. Their tongues are a little tentative at first, but it isn’t long before they are kissing deeply, Aki’s slim hips rocking gently against his brother’s. Inwardly, where some very small part will always remain himself when they are not within the complete safety of the penthouse, Feilong marvels at himself, that he has changed so much that he can pretend to be a teenager like this and not feel self conscious about it, but even more incredibly that he can be here in a public pool making out with another man (though it’s a good thing that, even if someone were to walk in, they wouldn’t have any way of knowing that the younger man he’s kissing is supposed to be his brother!) and not have a gun within immediate reach or be constantly watching the door. Finally, Aki breaks the kiss.

 

“Oh...we better not!” he gasps.

 

“Why not?” demands Fei, though he doesn’t fight it when Aki lets go and swims back a couple of feet.

 

“I...I...I mean we’d get in trouble. Uncle Ryu’s not here, and he said we shouldn’t...you know. When he’s not.”

 

“Well, he put  _ me _ in charge when he left, so that means it’s up to me, and since it means you have to do what I say,  _ you _ wouldn’t get in trouble anyway.” He enjoys the very nervous look on Aki’s face for a minute, then snickers. “And besides, he already said we can have fun together while he’s gone.  _ That _ kind of fun.” He doesn’t tell Aki that Uncle Ryu says that if they do play with each other  _ that way _ , they’re going to have to tell him all about it in detail. Poor Aki gets so embarrassed when he has to talk explicitly about sex stuff.

 

“But...but someone might walk in,” whispers Aki, eyes darting about nervously as if searching for spies hidden behind the pool furniture, which couldn’t conceal the presence of a small dog, let alone a human being. Fei laughs.

 

“You’re such a prude.”

 

“I am not!” cries Aki hotly.

 

“Are too.”

 

“Am not!” Aki leaps at Fei, who dodges, and the fight is back on. This serves to put passion on the back burner for the time being. They play in the pool for a few more minutes until, as Fei lifts his little brother over his head, preparing to hurl him as far as he can, Aki’s stomach growls loudly and they both forget the wrestling match, laughing.

 

“Time for lunch?” asks Fei, setting Aki down instead of throwing him.

 

“Yeah! I’m starving!”

 

“Okay, let’s go eat. Wanna have ramen?”

 

“Woohoo, ramen!”

 

By unspoken mutual consent, neither of them makes an issue of the fact that a middle school aged boy probably wouldn’t have the culinary skill Aki utilizes to turn everyday ramen noodles into the gourmet delight they feast upon with a variety of the delicacies they’d procured the day before. Fei has two bowls, and Aki munches down four before announcing that he couldn’t eat another bite.

 

They decide to watch movies after lunch, both too full to want to do anything more strenuous than flop down on the padding made of sofa cushions they’d put down earlier in the day and act like a couple of sloths. This lethargy lasts through “28 Days Later” and partway into its sequel, when Aki feeds Gomi a piece of candy off the tray of snacks he had decided to Fei’s astonishment that he wanted, before starting the second movie. The little dog is, of course, ecstatic, and leaps about begging for more.

 

“Don’t give him that,” snaps Fei irritably. “He’s not allowed to have people food and you know it!”

 

“I will if I want to. It’s not like I’m giving him chocolate,” retorts Aki stubbornly, though he reaches for a rice cracker rather than a sugary sweet to toss to the spitz, who catches it in the air and barks excitedly. 

 

“Stop it right now,” says Fei threateningly.

 

“Shut up. You’re not the boss of me!” Aki reaches for another cracker. Fei reaches out and snags his wrist. Aki growls and tries to pull away, but the older boy is much stronger, so all his efforts are in vain. 

 

“Oh yes I am. Uncle Ryu left me in charge, so there!”

 

“Let me GO!” cries Aki angrily, punctuating his final word by socking Fei with a sofa pillow he’s snatched with his free hand. Fei exclaims indignantly and lets go of Aki’s wrist, scooping up another pillow and whacking the younger boy in the face with it. An all-out pillow battle is immediately underway. Insults fly as fast as the pillows, amid grunts and exclamations of outrage when a solid blow is landed. In under a minute, annoyance is forgotten and both boys are laughing, though the war is no less fierce. They are both beginning to grow winded, the heat of battle beginning to cool off, when Aki, noticing that Fei has let his guard down, swings his pillow with all his might, hoping to score at least  _ one _ in-the-face coup against his more agile brother...and loses his grasp on his weapon. It feels as though everything moves in slow motion as he watches the pillow’s trajectory right into a tall, slim curio cabinet beside the television. It hits with a soft whump, but the result of its impact is anything  _ but _ soft. The cabinet rocks but doesn’t fall. Its contents, however, are another matter. With a terrific clatter, the objects adorning the cabinet rock and rattle, most of them simply teetering or simply falling over. A few, to both boys’ dismay, topple off the cabinet and fall to the floor. The crash they make when they hit the hardwood floor seems deafening to Aki. Most of the curios survive the fall, but one vase is not so fortunate. It shatters into hundreds of tiny porcelain shards.

 

Aki stares at the broken vase in horror, unable to move, mouth hanging open. Uncle Ryu doesn’t own anything cheap. The vase was probably an antique, worth hundreds of thousands of yen. His second pillow, procured during the fight, drops from nerveless fingers to the floor without a sound. 

 

“Oh  _ fuck _ ,” breathes Fei feelingly. 

 

“Oh...oh. _ no _ .” Aki’s voice is the tiniest thread of sound. He can’t get enough air into his lungs for anything louder.

 

“Oh boy, Ototo...you’re in big fucking trouble,” says Fei. His voice isn’t entirely without sympathy, but Aki’s too upset to notice. He can’t even argue, because the whole thing is undeniably his fault. He’d fed the dog treats he wasn’t supposed to have, disobeyed Fei when he’d said to stop, started the pillow fight, and unmistakably been the one to break the vase.

 

“And you’re just gonna love it, aren’t you? Well  _ fine. _ See if I care?” cries Aki, on the verge of tears. He dashes one away viciously with the back of his hand and then clenches his fists at his sides. “You just...you just gloat about it all you want. I’ll never...I’ll nuh-never pet your hair for you after you get punished ever again. You  _ JERK _ !” He screams the last at the top of his lungs, then turns and flees to his room, slamming the door and throwing himself on the bed, where he bursts into tears. 

 

In the very, very back of his mind where Akihito lives during these times, he realizes the tears aren’t really pretend. Asami couldn’t possibly care less if he gives Gomi a treat or two now and then, and their pillows have certainly received rougher treatment, but the vase...Akihito has no idea what it means to Asami or how much it’s worth. It’s probably some priceless museum piece. Uncle Ryu aside...how angry is  _ Asami _ going to be? But these thoughts are so deep underneath Aki’s thoughts that he couldn’t voice them at this moment if he had to. They only serve to give depth to them, and make Aki’s tears very real.

 

After what seems to him a very long time, after his tears have stopped and he simply lays curled up in his bed with most of his face in his rather soggy pillow, there comes a tentative knock at his door. It isn’t locked, but he doesn’t answer. Maybe Fei will just go away. No such luck.

 

“Aki? I know you’re in there. Can I come in?” Fei’s voice is soft and gentle.

 

“NO!” yells Aki in return, because he’s afraid that if his brother is nice to him right now, he’ll start crying again. Crying when he hasn’t even been spanked? What a baby! Fei, however, ignores his refusal and opens the door. Aki’s thankful his back is already to it so he doesn’t have to try to flop over onto his other side without getting tangled in blankets or falling on the floor. His bed is kinda small. Fei finds room to sit on it beside him anyway. His hand drops lightly onto Aki’s shoulder and refuses to be shrugged off when the boy tries.

 

“Oh, Aki, I’m sorry I wasn’t very nice about what happened. It really isn’t  _ all _ your fault. I should probably have stopped the pillow fight sooner. No...not let it happen in the first place. I shouldn’t have hit you back when you smacked me with that pillow.”

 

Aki doesn’t respond. He curls himself up tighter and whimpers a little into his pillow. This isn’t really helping a lot. Fei’s sympathy makes him feel less isolated, but not any less scared.

 

“I...I cleaned everything up. Really, really well. There’s not a single piece of porcelain anywhere. Not a splinter. Not a...not a  _ molecule _ ! And...and Ototo, I wouldn’t gloat, I promise. I’m  _ not _ going to love it. I think...I think I might cry too.”

 

“Do you...do you think maybe he just won’t notice it’s gone?” Aki lifts his head a little to peer hopefully up at Fei out of the corner of one eye. 

 

“Oh Aki….” Fei sighs and hunches his shoulders, looking unhappy. Aki’s sigh is much heavier.

 

“No, I know. I gotta tell him.”

 

“We-elll...maybe we don’t have to tell him  _ every _ detail. Like feeding the puppy. That wasn’t  _ very _ bad by itself, and it’s  _ not _ something he’d punish us for if that was all. It’s just...added to the other things, you know?”

 

“Yeah.” Aki whimpers a little. He’s not going to start crying again. He’s  _ not _ ! “Thanks.”

 

“Aki?” There’s a funny tone in Fei’s voice. He sounds sort of...nervous and excited and  _ resolved _ in some way. It’s unusual enough under these circumstances that Aki uncurls himself and lifts his head out of the pillow to look at Fei curiously. “I’ve...I’ve thought of a way that you don’t have to get a spanking from Uncle Ryu at all.”

 

“You have? FeiFei, are you gonna help me like, find another vase like that one? Or...or think of a different way to say it got broken, one I won’t get in trouble for?”

 

“No….nothing like that.”

 

“Then how?”

 

“I’ll...I’ll tell him I did it, instead of you.”

 

Aki sits all the way up and stares at his brother in shock.

 

“What? Why? Why would you do that for me? I...I was being really bratty to you, and I really did start the whole thing! I can’t...I can’t believe you’d do something like this! FeiFei...why would you?”

 

Fei bites his lip and glances at his beautiful little brother from under his long lashes. He takes a deep breath, hardly believing he’s daring to suggest what he’s about to suggest. He’s pretty sure Aki’s going to think he’s crazy, but he’s been having dreams lately that excite him in ways that are just about equal to the ways his dreams about Uncle Ryu do.

 

“There’s a condition.”

 

“What condition?” Aki demands warily 

 

“You...you gotta let  _ me _ spank you instead.”


	4. ...And Naughty Boys Play Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aki accepts Fei's offer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a continuation of Feilong and Akihito's roleplay. Again, consenting adults pretending to be teenagers, but be aware that they're acting as though they're actually young boys, in case this could be triggering for some people!
> 
> The author does NOT and never will condone the abuse of minors!

Aki’s brain completely derails itself as Fei’s words sink in. He stares at his brother in utter shock, as though he’s sprouted a tail or shaved his head, both being equally impossible. 

 

“I...you...what?”

 

“If you’ll agree to let  _ me _ punish you instead, I’ll tell Uncle Ryu that I broke the vase,” repeats Fei softly.

 

“But... _ why _ ?” Uncle Ryu’s spanking really hurt a lot. Even if what happens after the spankings is pretty amazing, they still make Aki cry and cry like a baby, and his bottom is sore for several days afterwards. He can’t imagine anyone wanting to volunteer to take one! His poor brother must have completely lost his mind. Oh! What if Aki had hit him in the head too hard and there’s something wrong with him, like brain damage? But Fei doesn’t look or act like a crazy person, he’s just saying crazy things.

 

“Well...I can take it better than you can. And...and since he left me in charge, in a way it  _ is _ my fault that it happened, just for that reason alone, see? And I really  _ do _ hate it the times he’s spanked you and not me. When I...hear you crying and...stuff, it kinda...kinda makes my chest hurt and it  _ does _ kinda make me want to cry too. I’m supposed to take care of you, protect you, and I feel bad when I can’t protect you from being punished. I hate it when you’re sad, Aki.” He whispers the last sentence, and this makes Aki’s chest feel all tight and funny. He grabs one of Fei’s hands and grips it tightly.

 

“You  _ do _ ! You do take care of me! And you know Uncle Ryu’s really fair, and when he does spank one of us, or both of us, it’s because we earned it, and that’s not your fault. But...but thank you. For saying that. And it’s okay. You shouldn’t have to take the blame. Really.”

 

“It’s...oh Aki, I gotta be honest with you. Those aren’t the  _ only _ reasons.”

 

“What? What other reasons are there?” A tiny flutter awakens in Aki’s tummy when Fei lifts his gaze from his lap where he’s been staring intently, to meet Aki’s confused one.

 

“I think about it sometimes,” whispers Fei, his fair skin going noticeably pink at his ears and cheeks.

 

“About what?”

 

“About spanking someone. Sometimes you, sometimes just some...person I imagine.”

 

Now it’s Aki’s turn to blush.

 

“Y-you do?” He’s mortified to realize that his dick is stirring in his shorts when Fei makes this confession. Aki thinks his big brother is the most beautiful person in the world. He’s not handsome and powerful like Uncle Ryu, but he’s almost as attractive in his own way. He’s very strong, much stronger than Aki, even though he’s only a little older and a little taller. His long hair makes him look almost like someone from a fantasy story, like the elves in those Lord of the Rings movies that Aki has watched probably nine times. The elves are beautiful in the same way Fei is. Not pretty like girls can be though. They’re elegant, and wear lovely clothes, but they’re also amazing warriors and they’re so brave. Aki has looked up to Fei forever. He really likes the way Fei makes him feel when he touches him and kisses him and does things to him. It’s mostly different from the way Uncle Ryu does things, but just as hot. He’s never imagined Fei spanking him the way their Uncle does, because Fei has always been his protector, so this proposal is a complete surprise.

 

“Yeah, I do. Oh, Aki, please don’t be mad at me! I’d never, ever hurt you for anything in the world. I...I mean, like Uncle Ryu says sometimes? That he’ll never  _ harm _ us or damage us, and he’ll always keep us safe but that sometimes he may also hurt us a little, in a way that will go away pretty fast and be forgotten, so that nothing  _ really _ bad happens to us?”

 

“I do know,” says Aki softly, because now Fei looks worried and upset. “I know the difference, FeiFei. I do. I just...it doesn’t seem  _ fair. _ You didn’t do anything wrong!”

 

“It won’t matter,” Fei replies, looking down at his lap again. “If we tell him about it how it really happened, he’ll spank both of us.”

 

“What? WHY?” This news comes as a shock to Aki.

 

“He...he said so, to me, before he left. I’m responsible while he’s away. For both of us. If I get in trouble, well then, I’m the only one who’ll be punished. If we both do something bad, we both get punished. But if...if  _ you _ do something bad, he’s still gonna spank us both, because I’m in charge and I shoulda stopped you from it.”

 

“But….but that’s not fair!”

 

“It’s the rules, Ototo. And I  _ could _ have stopped you. All I had to do was not hit you back when you hit me with the pillow and it wouldn’t have happened.”

 

Aki has no response to this, because he can’t think of any way to refute it.

 

“What...what about...if I say yes, then what happens after you...after….” His face grows even redder than before, and he can’t bring himself to finish his thought. Fei smiles at him, and it’s so much like the smile Uncle Ryu has when he’s talking about something naughty that it sends a shiver down his spine.

 

“After I spank you?” asks Fei, his voice growing deeper, somehow more intimate. Aki nods wordlessly. The smile widens. Fei’s teeth seem very white, almost sharp, and a little dangerous. “Oh Aki...after I spank you, I’ll make you feel so good.” He tips Aki’s chin up with his fingers and kisses him with great tenderness. Aki whimpers softly.

 

“O-Okay,” he says breathlessly. His whole body feels warm now, not just his face.

 

“Okay? You’ll let me...punish you?”

 

“Uncle Ryu did put you in charge. He told me so too. He said I should obey you. I...I didn’t. So...so I guess it’s right for you to do it.”

 

Fei takes a deep breath and lets it out, almost as if he’s been holding it all this time. He stands up, taking Aki’s hand and tugging him to his feet as well.

 

“Okay. I’m...going to go and get something to...to do it with. I want you to go to Uncle Ryu’s room and wait for me, okay?”

 

“Yes, Fei,” whispers Aki. Has his brother ever seemed this commanding? He doesn’t think so. Bossy sometimes, but never like this, in a way that makes Aki want to obey him. His legs feel like they’re trembling a little when he walks up the hall to the big Master bedroom. He sits down on the foot of the bed and waits. It feels almost like it does when he’s waiting for his uncle to come in and punish him. Then he remembers that this isn’t his uncle at all. Suddenly he’s not so scared anymore.

 

Fei isn’t as strong as Uncle Ryu, not by a long shot. And Fei loves him and protects him and gives him treats sometimes when he’s not really supposed to have them. He’s Aki’s playmate and his friend. Why, this isn’t going to be bad at all! This, he realizes, is a brilliant idea! Fei  _ likes _ the way Uncle Ryu spanks him sometimes. He’s told Aki so. Aki gets turned on when Uncle Ryu spanks him too, which he’s never been able to understand, and loves the things that come after the spankings, even though they hurt sometimes too, but not the same way Fei does. So it’s okay for Fei to take Aki’s spanking for him, because it won’t scare Fei the way it scares him. It’s perfect! It won’t be much of a spanking at all, compared to what their uncle gives them, and everybody will be happy with the outcome! 

 

He’s so caught up in his epiphany that it startles him when Fei appears in the doorway and clears his throat softly. Aki jumps a little, then lets out a nervous laugh. It dies on his lips when he sees the paddle in his brother’s hand. He’s not sure what he’d been expecting, but definitely not something as intimidating as the big oval maple wood paddle. It’s just about exactly the size of a boy’s backside, with several holes drilled in it. This, Uncle Ryu has explained to them, cuts down on the wind resistance so that the paddle will hurt more. Surely Fei can’t mean to spank him with  _ that _ ?

 

Apparently he does. He walks to the bed, his face solemn, a white knuckle grip on the paddle’s handle. He clears his throat again, nervously this time.

 

“Stand up and face the bed, Aki, and take off your pants and underwear.”

 

Aki almost refuses, because he’s felt that particular paddle before and hadn’t liked the sensation  _ at all. _ Then he thinks about the alternative, and reminds himself that it’s not as if Fei has to hit him so very hard with it. Of course not! Mollified, he hops to his feet and follows his brother’s instructions, pushing his shorts and underwear down over his hips. He lets them puddle at his feet, then steps out of them. He closes his eyes in mortification when this allows  his erection to spring free before Fei’s eyes, but his brother doesn’t say anything about it, so he does his best to pretend it isn’t there, and waits for further instructions.

 

Fei finds suddenly that he’s frozen in the doorway. He’s dreamed about a moment like this for months. His lovely little brother, mostly naked and submissive before him, backside bared for him to punish. Does he really dare to do this? Uncle Ryu hasn’t given him permission, precisely. But he remembers those dark honey-colored eyes sparkling at him as his uncle told him it was his job to make sure Aki stays in line when Ryu is away, and his wink when he’d told Fei it was up to him how he accomplished it. His chin firms and he walks over to where Aki stands, tugging nervously at the hem of his shirt so it will cover him a little in front, blushing and nervous and uncertain. So cute. 

 

“It’s gonna be okay, Aki,” he says gently. Aki looks up at him searchingly, then nods.

 

“I...I know.”

 

“Okay...I want you to bend over and put your elbows on the bed. And you can’t move, Aki. I don’t want to miss and hit you anywhere bad, so you have to stay still, no matter what.”

 

Aki nods jerkily and obeys him. Obeys him! He bends over and leans on his elbows, spreading his legs so that the angle doesn’t force him to topple forwards onto his face. Fei gulps and tries not to pay attention to how hot it is, to how hard his own cock is, throbbing insistently between his legs at the sight of his brother’s own arousal. He can’t think about that right now, not if he’s going to do this right. He’s seized suddenly by the enormity of what he’s about to do. This isn’t a game. Or...it’s more than a game. If it was just for fun, that would be one thing, but this...if he mishandles it somehow, he’ll let Aki down. Harm him. Not physically of course. He’s confident enough in his own reflexes not to accidentally hit the boy the wrong way or anything. But there are emotions involved, and those are a lot more fragile  _ and _ a lot more important than the physical. He’s responsible for Aki. Not just to punish him properly so that he feels that these events are truly put behind them, but to do it in such a way that he feels better afterwards, not worse. Uncle Ryu seems to do this effortlessly, but now that he’s facing it himself, Fei realizes that it isn’t effortless at all. He recognizes that, in this moment, there is a lot more of the adult Liu Feilong present in him at this moment, but he thinks this is something he has needed to see, to understand, for a long time. Something the old Feilong could never have understood. Asami understands it, seems to navigate the minefields of he and Akihito’s psyches with ease. It humbles him. His hands tightens around the paddle’s handle. He’s  _ not _ going to screw this up. He takes a deep breath.

 

“O-okay,” he says, hoping the tremors in his stomach aren’t coming out in his voice, “Do you understand why I’m doing this, Aki?”

 

“Yeah,” whispers Aki, hanging his head. “I...I didn’t listen when you told me not to do something, and got mad instead, and that made me do things that caused one of Uncle Ryu’s vases to get broken. I’m sorry Ani.”

 

Fei sighs in relief that Aki really does get it, because he’s not prepared for a lecture. He’s also relieved that his hand doesn’t shake when he reaches out and touches the paddle to Aki’s bare ass. The younger boy shudders and gasps at the feel of the cool, varnished wood against his skin.

 

“Are you ready?” asks Fei softly. Aki doesn’t answer, but nods once, his fingers curling into fists in the fabric of the bedspread. Fei taps the paddle against his bottom a couple of times, lining up his stroke. Biting his lips, he draws his arms back, pauses, and then swings.

 

The impact of the paddle against his bottom sounds very loud in Aki’s ears. Hot pain seems to explode. He howls in shock at how much it hurts and shoots upright, grasping his wounded posterior in both hands and glaring at his brother in outrage at his betrayal.

 

“OW! FeiFei….what the fuck?” he yells. 

 

“What are you doing? You have to stay in position, Ototo!”

 

“That HURT!!”

 

“It’s supposed to hurt.” Fei stares at Aki in confusion for a moment, wondering where his reaction is coming from. Then it occurs to him and he has to struggle to hold back laughter. He swipes a hand over his face while he gets his expression under control, then sits down in the bed and takes Aki’s hand, tugging the smaller boy into his lap.

 

“You thought I wasn’t going to really spank you very hard, didn’t you,” he asks, putting his arms around Aki so the boy can’t wriggle away.

 

“Well  _ yeah _ . Why else would you offer to punish me instead of Uncle Ryu?”

 

“Aki...I have to make it real, don’t you see?”

 

“NO!”

 

“Uncle Ryu left me in charge, so I’ve gotta...I’ve gotta take that seriously. I’m willing to take the rap for the vase, because I know you get scared when Uncle Ryu’s mad at you and you know he’s gonna punish you, and it makes you feel really sad. I don’t like it when you feel that way, and...I’m not...I don’t get scared and sad the way you do. But it’s not fair if it isn’t real. If I’m...responsible, if I’m gonna ever earn his respect? Expect him to trust me to be in charge like this, then I can’t treat it like a joke, Aki. I don’t want you to be mad, or think I’m betraying you or anything, but it  _ does _ have to be real. I have to...to take it seriously. I’m  _ sorry _ if you didn’t understand that. Look….we don’t have to do this. We can just tell Uncle Ryu the truth and both take our medicine, if that’s what you want to do. I won’t hit you as hard as he does, but if this is what you want, I  _ am _ going to make it real.”

 

Aki stops struggling and lays his head on Fei’s shoulder. He’s quiet for some time, thinking about what his brother has said. He  _ had _ been expecting Fei not to spank him very hard. To let him off the hook. But listening to his words, Aki realizes that by agreeing to take the blame for what happened, Fei is going to get a very real spanking from their uncle. Aki’s strong sense of fair play crowds out his affront at Fei’s harsh treatment of him. How dare he expect to get off scot free and expect Fei to suffer in his stead? He does get scared when Uncle Ryu catches him out doing something worthy of being punished. Anxiety always ties him in knots with fears that this time he’s done something bad enough for Uncle Ryu to be done with them. By offering to spank him instead, Fei is saving him from those feelings because he’s not worried about that with his brother.  _ That _ is the most important thing his Ani is saving him from.

 

“I’m sorry, FeiFei. You’re right. It wouldn’t be fair. I’m ready now. I won’t move again.”

 

Fei sighs in relief that he’s made himself understood, and helps Aki off his lap. The boy gets back into position and Fei resumes his own by his brother’s left hip. This time when he brings the paddle down, Aki doesn’t move. The satiny smooth wood turns Aki’s bottom bright red after only two spanks. He cries out in pain at the third, eyes watering at the sting. Fei is disturbingly good at this! The paddle covers practically his whole backside with every stroke, making him feel like it’s on fire. He tries to be still, but can’t helps squirming a little between blows, as though it will somehow make the sting go away.

 

Fei waits patiently for Aki to be still before spanking him again. And again, and again. Aki’s cries are both wrenching to him, and at the same time terribly arousing. He smooths his hand gently over hot, reddened flesh, rubbing softly, before resuming. He doesn’t count how many times he swings the paddle, just pays careful attention to Aki’s voice. After somewhere around a dozen, Aki bursts into tears.

 

“Ah! I’m s-sorry! I won’t do it again! Oww! Oh, Fei, please! It hurts, it hurts, please!”

 

That plaintive cry is almost his undoing, and Fei is on the verge of stopping, of taking Aki in his arms and cuddling him until he stops crying like that, but then he remembers that Uncle Ryu never stops here. He  _ always _ spanks past the point of tears, because he says little boys don’t learn their lessons if their spankings stop when  _ they _ want them to. 

 

“Five more, Aki, and then we’re done,” he says as firmly as he can, though it makes him feel like a little bit of a bastard. Aki sobs and nods his agreement. Fei does his best to make them count, the paddle cracking down on Aki’s round bottom. Aki howls and cries, his legs shaking a little, but he doesn’t move. Fei drops the paddle like it’s scalding his hand after the final stroke, hauling Aki up and into his arms. They collapse onto the bed together and Aki plasters himself to his tormentor like a small, very sorry little burr. His tears soak the neck of Fei’s shirt, but he doesn’t care. A sense of immense, ferocious protectiveness and love seems to swell in his chest. He wonders if Uncle Ryu feels this way too. He pets Aki’s hair and his back, whispering to him over and over that he’s so good and so brave, and that all is forgotten, and that he loves him. All the things that Uncle Ryu always says. And that he’s sorry. After a minute or two, Aki’s crying begins to abate. He pulls his head back a little and looks up at Fei, his eyes bright with tears.

 

“What are you sorry for?”

 

Fei laughs a little at how Aki’s voice sounds with his nose all stuffy from crying, and gropes for a tissue from the bedside table. Aki blows dutifully when it’s held to his nose, and repeats the question.

 

“I feel like an asshole for making you cry like that,” he admits ruefully.

 

“Part of you doesn’t,” says Aki with a sly smile, and his hips press against Fei’s own. And it’s true. Part of Fei isn’t sorry at all. Part of Aki doesn’t seem to be either.

 

“I can’t help it,” he admits.

 

“Me either,” whispers Aki. “Ngh. FeiFei…”

 

“I want to make you feel good, Ototo, but not if you’re not...I mean, we don’t have to. Whatever you want.”

 

“Kiss me.”

 

Fei covers Aki’s lips gently with his own, kissing him softly, sweetly, but his brother has other ideas. His hungry little growl is more adorable than fierce, but Fei is much too busy returning his hungry kiss to laugh. Their tongues tangle, and he captures Aki’s bottom lip in his teeth, nipping sharply and then licking away the sting. Clothes are flung heedlessly until they’re naked, Aki on top of Fei, whimpering hungrily into his mouth. Fei fumbles blindly for the small jar of lubricant on the bedside table. While the younger boy grinds his hips against Fei’s, he reaches down, fingers trailing between hot, punished cheeks to find the tiny pucker of Aki’s little hole with slick fingers.

 

“Ohh, oh FeiFei, hurry,” pants the boy. Fei grins and rolls them, pinning Aki under him, watching the expressions play across his face as he presses two fingers inside, curling them just right until he cries out and arches under the older boy.

 

“There?” he whispers, kissing the slender throat, teeth scraping skin.

 

“Uhnn...oh...oh yes. But  _ hurry _ !”

 

“I don’t want to hurt you, Ototo…”

 

Aki reaches between them to wrap his fingers around Fei’s cock and squeeze softly. He giggles a little when Fei moans.

 

“I don’t know FeiFei. I think you liked hurting me. I think you liked it a  _ lot. _ ”

 

“Why you little brat…”

 

Laughing breathlessly, he flips Aki easily over on his stomach and slaps him lightly on his very spanked bottom. Aki squeals a little and squirms when Fei scissors his fingers apart, lifting his hips and chanting at Fei to hurry, hurry, please hurry. Taking him at his word, Fei liberally applies more of the slippery stuff to his cock, which is now so hard it hurts, and falls on the eager little body beneath him. Aki shrieks when he’s speared on his Ani’s cock, struggling madly, but not to escape. It burns a little, but he doesn’t care. When Fei tries to slow down, to ease the rest of the way inside him, he digs his toes into the blankets and bucks up into the invading hardness, impaling himself. His breath sobs in his throat as he begs Fei for more.

 

“Please, please, fuck me, fuck me, oh…”

 

“You’re such a naughty little boy,” purrs Fei in his ear, obliging him gladly. He takes Aki’s blindly groping hands and pins them to the bed, giving him what he asks for, thinking to himself that right now he’d give Aki the moon and stars if he wanted. 

 

“I am,” gasps Aki. “So bad. Harder, FeiFei!”

 

Shaking his head in astonishment, Fei puts his shoulders into it and fucks Aki harder, his hips slapping against the other boy’s hot, reddened ass as he rams himself into Aki’s body over and over again. He grits his teeth and concentrates on not simply losing himself. Aki’s hole is tight and warm and soft, but he wants to make sure he gives Aki what he’d promised, that he makes him feel wonderful, before he loses control. Aki’s cries of pleasure don’t make it easy, nor does the sight of his punished backside taking Fei’s cock.

 

“I want you to come, Aki,” he whispers, his voice ragged and a little wild. In the back of his mind, Feilong marvels that it can be like this. He feels exactly like the young boy he pretends to be but hasn’t in reality for many years, barely holding on to his control, exulting in the feel of being inside a lover, a little awed and nearly overwhelmed. He pushes these thoughts back and simply lets himself feel the wonder of it, delight in the filth of it. “Please, Ototo, I love you, you’re so hot, I can’t hold on much longer, you feel so good, please come…”

 

Aki feels the pleasure building, heat coiling tight in his belly, tugging at him, and he cries out Fei’s name.

 

“Fei! Oh...oh  _ now, _ I’m coming...I...ahh!” He screams, he has to, because it feels too good to keep inside, and he hears Fei’s shout and feels the warmth of his brother’s own release inside him. It seems like it lasts forever, and not nearly long enough, until he collapses bonelessly, gasping for breath, Fei’s body a reassuring weight above him. He’s not too heavy. Aki likes feeling him there, and is in no hurry to move. He protests when Fei rolls them, his cock slipping from Aki’s body, but Fei just laughs and pulls him close, wrapping his arms around Aki and feathering kisses to the back of his neck and shoulders. He squirms a little to get closer and sighs contentedly.

 

“How do you feel?” whispers Fei, sounding a little anxious.

 

“I think I might be bad more often when you’re in charge,” he whispers back.

 

“Maybe we could just pretend you’re being bad,” muses Fei. “Because if you  _ really _ are, I’m not sure the punishment I’d have to get from Uncle Ryu would be as much fun.”

 

“Oh shut up. You love it when he spanks you. If it wasn’t for me, you’d get in trouble on purpose more often than you do.”

 

“I would not,” exclaims Fei hotly, glad Aki can’t see his face, or the telltale stain of red in his cheeks.

 

“Would too.”

 

“Am I gonna have to spank you again so soon?” he demands threateningly. Aki’s bright head cocks to the side, considering.

 

“Hm. Maybe. But later, okay? I’m  _ starving _ !”

 

“Me too! Let’s get cleaned up and order sushi for dinner, what do you say?”

 

“I say last one out of the shower has to eat a spoonful of wasabi!”

 

It’s not a dare Fei takes him up on. They feast on sushi on the living room floor, watching horror movies and making out until they’re both blinking sleepily and not paying attention to the television anymore. Aki yawns hugely as Fei coaxes him to bed, rubbing his eyes. He’s asleep almost before his head hits the pillow. 

 

Feilong watches him sleep for a few moments, marvelling silently to himself at how this young man has saved him. Before he closes his own eyes, he leans down and brushes Akihito’s shaggy bangs back, kissing him softly on his forehead.

 

“Thank you,” he whispers.

 


	5. Until the Last Day...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Feilong and Akihito's last day before Asami returns home from his business trip turns out to contain some excitement neither of them expect!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't hate me, but this chapter doesn't contain any porn. They've both certainly been filthy enough in the first four chapters of this section that has turned into rather a beast on me (not that this should come as a surprise to anyone! I do tend to do that, don't I?), so I wanted to go in a different direction with this part. Let's not forget that Feilong and Asami can be dangerous men, and that all of them lead interesting lives. I promise there will be plenty of filth in my next work in the series, whatever it turns out to be!
> 
> And for anyone who doesn't know, more information about the boys and their lives together can be found on my Tumblr, askasamifeiandaki.tumblr.com. Hope you'll join them there, and feel free to join in the fun!

They’re in the kitchen; Akihito because he’s preparing lunch for the two of them, Feilong because he doesn’t want to sit around by himself waiting for Aki to do it. It makes him feel like he’s being waited on. Not only doesn’t he enjoy the feeling in  _ this _ home, but he also doesn’t want Akihito to feel like that’s what’s happening either. He watches the young man’s efficient, self-assured movements as he chops vegetables, adds seasonings to various things without measuring anything, sautees, and steams all manner of things which will no doubt coalesce into a delicious lunch.

 

“I envy you and Yoh a little,” he admits. Aki turns away from the counter to look at him curiously.

 

“About what?” Akihito can’t imagine he’s got anything Feilong could possibly envy!

 

“Your cooking. You’re both so good at it. I can make tea, and that’s about it. Even Asami can manage a simple meal on his own if he has to.” He frowns. “Of course, I don’t think he ever  _ did _ , when he was on his own.”

 

“I know,” agrees Aki, his grin a little smug. “I think he only had bourbon or scotch for dinner on the nights he was home, before I came along. He always ate out.” His smile fades a little. “But I can’t see how that’s anything for you to envy.”

 

Feilong sighs

 

“I know I have a lot to be thankful for, but...well. Yoh always prepares such wonderful meals for us. I suppose….sometimes I think it would be nice if I could cook something for him, for a change. To show him I’m grateful. That I don’t take it for granted. But I’m afraid I’m hopeless in the kitchen.”

 

“Have you tried?” asks Aki, turning back to the tuna he’s been marinating since this morning. Feilong laughs ruefully.

 

“Oh, once or twice, when I was alone and didn’t feel like going out. An unmitigated disaster doesn’t begin to cover it. What I didn’t burn was almost completely raw! Which is fine when it’s supposed to be. Not as much when it’s supposed to be grilled!”

 

Aki laughs too, imagining Feilong trying to eat his own cooking if it had turned out as bad as he says. Given the older man’s tastes, he bets Feilong called for takeout rather than making the best of it. FeiFei has no tolerance for anything less than the best.

 

“What’s Yoh’s favorite meal?” he asks suddenly, an idea brewing.Surprised by the question, Feilong opens his mouth, then closes it to think.

 

“Hmm. Sea bass poached in some sort of white wine. There’s a sauce too, but I’m not sure what’s in it. With rice and steamed vegetables. I don’t think he cares what kind, except that he doesn’t care very much for radishes. He doesn’t hate them, he just wouldn’t pick them if he had a choice.”

 

“I know that dish,” says Aki, getting excited. “He gave me the recipe!”

 

“What are you thinking, Aki-kun? I can tell from your expression that you’re planning something.”

 

“I think the reason you can’t cook is because nobody ever took the time to teach you. I think you should cook Yoh’s favorite meal for him when he gets home. And I’m gonna teach you how to do it!”

 

Feilong opens his mouth to refuse, but Akihito’s excitement is contagious, and the idea is very appealing. He can just imagine Yoh’s surprise. What Aki says is true, after all. No one has ever tried to teach Feilong how to cook. Perhaps that’s really all that’s lacking.

 

“I don’t know, Aki. You may be sorry for trying to take me on as a pupil. I’m afraid none of my instructors have ever found me very cooperative…”

 

Aki laughs and points his spoon at Feilong.

 

“Oh, I’m not worried about that! I’m a very good teacher, you know. Plus, if you’re mean, I’ll just tell Asami on you and he’ll take care of  _ that _ !” He sticks out his tongue and then straightens, tapping the bowl of the spoon against his lips thoughtfully. “Or  _ maybe _ …” he adds playfully, “I’ll tell  _ Yoh _ on you instead.”

 

Feilong laughs, shaking his head. To think that anyone would talk to him this way. Akihito really is more remarkable than he’ll ever know.

 

“All right, I give in. You’ll teach me how to cook. I’ll try not to set Asami’s kitchen on fire.”

 

“All right!” Aki cheers, and takes out the notebook where he writes down new recipes. Feilong stifles a chuckle at its appearance. The cover has obviously torn off more than once, as evidenced by several layers of tape of different types and colors. Written in magic marker on the cover are the words, “Chef Akihito-San’s Secret Magical Book of Fine Cooking. KEEP OUT or you will be cursed!” There’s a cartoon drawing of a man who is obviously supposed to be Asami who, having apparently failed to heed the warning on the cover, is beset by tiny devils and covered in what may be boils. Or possibly freckles. It’s hard to tell. Many of the pages have come loose and have been stuck back into the notebook haphazardly so that they stick out. Many are looking quite frayed at the edges. Aki flips through it, grabbing at pages that fall out, until he finds the one he’s looking for.

 

“Ah-ha! Here we are. Now, let’s see what we’ll need. Hmm...white wine….well, I know we’ll have plenty of  _ that _ . Asami’s wine collection is a whole closet. Rice vinegar, check. Tarragon, check. Lemons, check. And we have this, and this, and that...Okay! It looks like we’ve got everything this recipe calls for. I’ll just get out the sea bass…” He opens the freezer with a flourish. He frowns. He sticks his head in, shifts a number of wrapped packages of various frozen fish and meats around. He starts muttering to himself, then begins taking things out of the freezer. Finally he turns back to face Feilong with a stricken expression on his face. “This is a disaster!  _ We’re out of sea bass _ !”

 

Feilong loses the battle he’s been fighting with his laughter for the last several minutes. Aki glares at him as he shoves things back into the freezer.

 

“Well, I don’t think it’s very funny! How am I supposed to teach you to make Yoh’s favorite meal? I mean, I guess we could use a different kind of fish, but it wouldn’t be the same…”

 

“Akihito,” says Feilong gently, but Aki keeps muttering to himself, marching up and down the length of the kitchen, tugging at his hair and growing increasingly agitated. “AKIHITO!”

 

“AH! What? Geez, you don’t have to shout!”

 

“I merely thought to suggest that we go to the seafood market and purchase the sea bass?”

 

“Oh.” Aki swipes his fingers through his hair, which is now standing rather wildly on end, and huffs out a rueful laugh. “Yeah...I guess we could do that too. Sorry, FeiFei...I know you said you didn’t want to set foot out of the condo the whole time…”

 

“I think this is a worthy cause. Shall we?”

 

“Yeah, let’s do it!” 

 

Aki hurries to change into street clothes, since he’s currently sporting Spongebob lounge pants and one of Asami’s white undershirts, while Feilong rings Suoh for a car. He finds it pretty ostentatious to have to take a car and driver just to go to the fish market, but they both can’t fit comfortably on his scooter, and neither of them has a driver’s license. This makes him think it might be time he got his. He knows how to drive, he’s just never gone to the trouble of getting a license because he’s never been able to afford a car, and thus hasn’t seen the need. 

 

The seafood market is loud and crowded as usual, and permeated by the overwhelming smell of fish. Feilong wrinkles his nose distastefully. Aki laughs at him.

 

“You’re such a diva, FeiFei!”

 

“Call it what you will, peasant. I can afford to be particular. I see no reason to expose myself to anything but that which is beautiful.”

 

“Not even to cook Yoh a special dinner to show him how much you love him?” Aki nudges him with his elbow, ignoring the peasant comment because Feilong doesn’t really mean it. 

 

“I’m here, am I not?”

 

“You totally are, and I’ll make sure to tell Yoh about the sacrifice you made for him. C’mon, I know the booth that usually has the best sea bass. It’s kinda a ways back in here, but I’ll try to get you out as fast as I can!”

 

They thread their way through shoppers, workers, and the multitude of shopkeepers barking their wares. Aki loves the fish market. It’s so full of life and excitement. Normally, he’d take his time and take advantage of some of the dozens and dozens of free samples that many of the booths and stands are offering, but he keeps his word to Feilong and takes the fastest route to one of his favorite vendors. Out of the corner of his eye, he notices a couple of foreigners. Sometimes there are tourists at this market, but not very often. It’s smaller and less popular than the famous Tokyo Fish Market that is in all the tourist brochures and can be seen featured on travel shows about the city, so they tend to stand out. They must be investors of some kind, he thinks. Normal tourists don’t wear suits like that to visit the fish market. Dumbasses, they’re probably never going to get the smell out with dry cleaning! 

 

They reach the stand he wants, and he greets the middle-aged woman who runs the place with a little bow. She smiles and greets him back by name. He introduces Feilong, who also bows politely. This seems to delight the woman, because anyone can see just by looking at him that Feilong is a wealthy man.

 

“We need some sea bass, please. Six good-sized fillets if you have them.” He figures it won’t hurt to get extra in case something goes wrong, and if it doesn’t, well...Asami is out of it, after all, and it’s another week before his next regular delivery. He shows Feilong how to pick out a good fillet, pressing a finger gently into the white flesh and demonstrating how it will plump back up if it’s fresh. When he turns to lean close enough to be heard, because it’s always really loud here, he frowns a little. 

 

“You don’t want the edges of the fish to be dry, or starting to turn brown,” he yells. Feilong nods, and they make their purchase. When he turns to Feilong once again to hand him the wrapped package, he goes up on tiptoes so he can speak more quietly into the other man’s ear. “There are two men at a booth one row over and four stalls down,” he says, keeping his voice as low as he can while still being heard.

 

“I’ve seen them,” replies Feilong.

 

“I wasn’t sure the first time I saw them, but I think they may be following us.”

 

“I think so too. They’re too well dressed to be wandering casually around this place,” Fei agrees.

 

“The...the thing is, I think I’ve seen them before.”

 

“Where?” Feilong’s eyes go cold.

 

“In Mikhail Arbatov’s suite on your ship,” Aki confesses, feeling his stomach lurch once he puts his feeling into words. “I can’t really be sure, but it looks like some of the men I saw then.”

 

“Let’s keep walking,” says Feilong, taking him by the elbow and turning him away from the booth where they’re standing. Aki nods, swallowing past the tightness in his throat. Who are these men, and what do they want? It can’t be anything good! Akihito wishes they’d stayed home and just used a different kind of fish. He glances at Feilong out of the corners of his eyes. The other man’s face is serene, but to someone who knows him the way Aki does, his eyes are terrifying. At first, he’s very confused when Feilong suddenly develops an interest in sightseeing and accepting the free samples at the next booth which offers them. The confusion clears when Feilong takes the opportunity to speak quietly into his ear again. While they’re walking side by side, conversation like this would stand out, but when they stop and look at the offerings of a booth or sample a bite of sushi, it’s both easier and looks natural.

 

“Is there a back way out of this place?”

 

“Yes,” says Aki. “It’s a delivery road, not a main street.”

 

“Excellent. Now listen. I don’t know this place, and I’m betting they don’t either, but you do.”

 

Aki nods, but this is all Feilong says until they’ve moved on a bit more and stopped at another booth to consider a display of octopus.

 

“What are you thinking?” he asks.

 

“I want you to make sure we lose them, but not until we’re close to it.”

 

“Okay,” says Aki. A tiny kernel of excitement comes to life and his fear begins to abate a little. He’s still nervous, but reminds himself that he’s standing here with one of the deadliest men he’s ever met. And also that Feilong never goes anywhere unarmed. As they begin to take a completely random path through the market, pausing often to look at or taste various types of fish, a plan takes shape. They also manage to keep an eye on their pursuers. Akihito’s nerves settle and his confidence grows. Feilong won’t let anything happen to him. This must be what it’s like to be a spy!

 

Feilong instructs him to make sure that he leads the Russians on an extensive wild goose chase, so that they will surely be completely turned around in this crowded, expansive, strange place they’ve likely never been. Aki is delighted that Feilong seems to have complete faith in his ability to do this. Within a few more minutes, he’s having the time of his life. He carefully leads their foreign shadows all over the fish market, taking random routes through the place, but slowly working his way towards the rear service entrance. Feilong judges the other men to be thoroughly confused enough after an hour of this, and from the few surreptitious glances he’s stolen of them, Akihito agrees. The men have grown more and more frustrated as time has dragged on. They both keep going up on their toes to try to look over the crowd to get their bearings, but from the way they’re both frowning, he doesn’t think they’re being very successful. Once they’ve gotten very close to the back of the market, Feilong gives Aki more instructions.

 

“All right, now we’re going to find out if you’re as good as Asami says you are. Now, I want us to lose them, as quickly as you can. I’m hoping they’re going to assume we’ve gone out the back way, and try to catch up with us. How quickly can you get us around to that alley once we’re sure we’ve lost them?”

 

“That’s easy,” replies Aki eagerly, popping a bite of salmon into his mouth and nodding in appreciation. To anyone observing them, it looks like they’re discussing the merits of the fish. Being a spy is kind of fun! “There’s a way to get out over there on the East side of the market, and it’s not far to the end of the service road.”

 

“You are a  _ very _ good boy,” murmurs Feilong, looking pleased in the same way a leopard who has just taken down its prey looks. “Ready?”

 

“Totally!”

 

Akihito turns, knowing Feilong will be right behind him, and starts moving swiftly between the stalls. He eels his way through the crowd with practiced ease. He hasn’t become a good investigative photographer by chance. He’s small and quick, and knows how to move in a crowd just as well as he knows how to climb a building (or jump safely off of one), and puts all of his experience to work. Feilong follows his lead, letting Aki pay attention to where they’re going while he keeps a covert eye on their pursuers. In a few short minutes, he tugs sharply on Akihito’s sleeve. Aki stops instantly and turns to him.

 

“We’ve lost them. They’re headed for the back doors in disgust. One of them is on the phone. That was very well done!”

 

“Thanks! Now come on, we gotta hurry if we’re gonna catch them in the alley!” Grinning fiercely, he darts towards the side door with Feilong keeping pace. As they exit the market and turn towards the mouth of the service road, a frightening thought occurs to him. Even as they run along the Eastern side of the huge warehouse that houses the market, paying no attention to the people on the sidewalk who look at them strangely, he gropes for Feilong’s hand. Feilong takes it, but doesn’t slow. When they turn down the alley, they slow to a walk, both of them watching the huge delivery doors they can see about halfway down. Several large delivery trucks are parked along the service road.

 

“F-Feilong?”

 

“Hm?” asks his lover a little absently, not taking his eyes on the door the two Russians should be coming through any moment.

 

“What...what are you going to do?”

 

Now Fei does look at him. The icy rage Akihito can see on his face softens for a moment.

 

“Aki...I didn’t think. I’m not going to kill them. Not unless they give me no choice. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

 

Aki lets out the breath he hadn’t been aware he’d been holding, and nods. 

 

They’re both leaning casually against one of the delivery trucks when the two Russians, red-faced and out of breath, burst out the door alongside the two large delivery bays at the back of the market, looking around wildly for their escaped targets.

 

“Looking for someone?” asks Feilong mildly. Akihito has to bite his lip hard to keep from bursting into laughter at the way both men nearly jump out of their skins and whirl to face them in alarm. One man’s hand inches towards the inside of his jacket, and Feilong stands up straight. “Ah, ah. None of that please.”

 

Akihito hadn’t noticed him doing it, but Feilong has already drawn his own gun and holds it close to his hip where it isn’t immediately obvious. The Russian grimaces, but puts his hand down. Neither of the two men speak, but stand very still, eyeing Feilong and Akihito warily.

 

“I asked you a question,” says Feilong. To someone who didn’t know him, his voice would sound polite. Aki knows it’s not. The two men have apparently met enough people like Feilong in their line of work to realize it’s not as well (not that there  _ is _ anyone exactly like Feilong).

 

“We’re just doing some sightseeing,” replies one of them in heavily accented Japanese.

 

“There aren’t any fish market alleys in Russia?” asks Aki innocently. Feilong doesn’t look at him, but the corner of his mouth twitches.

 

“We...ah...just got turned around in there, had to take the nearest exit we could find,” says the other nervously. Neither has taken their eyes off of Feilong’s gun.

 

“I can see how that would be easy to do,” agrees Feilong coolly.

 

“Yeah, I guess I wasn’t a very good tour guide,” Aki agrees.

 

“Perhaps next time our friends here should  _ ask _ you for a tour, and you’ll be more careful.”

 

“Look, what do you want?” bursts out one of the men.

 

“Want? I? I’m not the one following people around without introducing myself first,” Feilong replies.

 

“We weren’t following you,” says the other man sullenly. Feilong laughs gaily for a few seconds, then stops abruptly, his face going cold.

 

“I don’t know what you want, and don’t really care. Whatever it is, you’re not going to get it. Akihito, be a dear and take a couple of souvenir photos of our friends here, won’t you?”

 

“Smile, and say cheese!” snickers Aki, using his phone to take clear pictures of both men since he hasn’t brought a camera along. Their expressions are about as far from smiling as they can get, but neither is willing to take his eyes off of Feilong’s weapon long enough to avert his face. “Got them. Great shots guys, you should think about taking up modeling, if the goon gig doesn’t work out for you.”

 

“Now, here is what’s going to happen. We are all going to walk calmly out of this alley together. You are going to get in your car and go back to wherever you came from. If I ever see either of your faces again, I shan’t be nearly as polite as I’m being right now. You’re also going to take a message back to your employer. Tell Mikhail that if he’s this desperate for a date, I hear the whores in Macau are much more accommodating than I.”

 

Akihito snorts with laughter he can’t quite suppress at this. Feilong pauses until he has himself under control, then continues.

 

“Also do let him know that if he sends anyone else to bother me or mine, I’ll return them to him on ice like the fish we’re going home to prepare now. Luckily for you, I’m a forgiving sort, and you haven’t managed to spoil my appetite. Get moving please. I’ve a cooking lesson to attend.”

 

The two men have no choice but to obey unless they want to cause quite a scene. They’ve apparently been instructed not to, because they do exactly as Feilong says and walk out to the main street, Feilong and Akihito right behind them. Once they’re back amongst other people, Feilong puts the gun away, though he keeps his hand on it until they watch the men get into a nondescript black car and drive away. Suoh picks them up in the limo, and Feilong reports what’s happened to him. 

 

Aki collapses against the plush seats with a huge sigh. Feilong puts his arm around him and pulls him close.

 

“Are you all right?” he asks softly, frowning at Akihito in concern.

 

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine.” Aki finds that he’s shaking a little now that it’s over, but only partly from fear. “That was...it was a little scary, but I knew you wouldn’t let anything bad happen. I knew it. And it...it was kinda fun! Did you  _ see _ the looks on their faces?” He giggles.

 

“I did indeed. Akihito...you handled yourself very well back there. I am impressed.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Really. Asami will be proud too. You kept your cool, and followed instructions. Not only that, but I couldn’t have done any of it without you.”

 

Aki looks searchingly into Feilong’s eyes to see if he’s being patronized, but sees only truth on the other man’s face.

 

“Yeah? Thanks! I was pretty awesome, wasn’t I?” He sits up and bounces a little in his seat. “Man, we really showed them! I hope that Mikhail Arbatov is so embarrassed!” He freezes, the big smile on his face vanishing to be replaced by a grimace. “You don’t think...you don’t think this will make him do something bad, do you? Like...come after us?”

 

“Aki, no. Don’t be afraid. That’s not the way that man works. I don’t believe he had any intention in sending those men other than to try to find out what I’m up to here. I don’t have any idea where his fixation comes from, but he seems to have some fascination with sticking his nose into my business.”

 

“No idea huh? Have you looked in the mirror lately?”

 

“As often as I can,” replies Feilong serenely. “Not that it will do him any good.”

 

“That guy needs somebody to spank him,” mutters Aki. The thought of it makes him snicker. It makes Feilong laugh too. By the time they’ve returned to the penthouse, any residual fear he had left is gone, and he’s able to turn his attention to Feilong’s cooking lesson. 

 

Being the artist that he is, Feilong takes to his lesson with ease, though his distaste for some of the messier aspects of the process are vastly entertaining for his instructor. Their dinner is a very successfully rendered duplicate of Yoh’s recipe, and Akihito is confident that Feilong’s lover is going to be not only surprised, but quite pleased and impressed when Feilong prepares it for him.

 

They call Asami and give him a detailed report of the day’s events, several times to Aki’s annoyance, until he’s satisfied he’s gotten every detail. Feilong convinces him that he needn’t cut his trip short, as he’ll be returning tomorrow anyway, and they have no intention of leaving the condo again before then. His words before they say goodbye leave Aki with a warm feeling in his chest.

 

“ _ Very _ well done, Akihito-san. I’m proud of you.”

 

Feilong reiterates his own pride in the way Aki had worked with him at the market to foil their pursuers in a less vocal way later that evening, by demonstrating it quite physically and at great length, until Akihito collapses in exhaustion and falls so deeply asleep he’s practically unconscious. Feilong watches over him as he sleeps, taking his gun out after Aki is dead to the world. He really doesn’t think that Arbatov or his men have any plans to try anything, and certainly not tonight, but these three days alone with Akihito have just served to convince him even more firmly that the young man sleeping the sleep of the just in the big bed is beyond price, and that along with Asami, he would burn the world to keep Akihito safe.


End file.
